Schola Superum
by WindowChild
Summary: An AU telling of the saga, in which Camp Half Blood is a college, and Percy learns of his demigod status at eighteen.
1. The SATS

Quick A/N – Yes, I do realize that his age makes the prophecy rather irrelevant, but don't worry, it will get explained.

"Stupid sweat," Percy muttered softly, violently brushing at his hair with a pencil. It was nearly twenty minutes until the end time, and Percy was both delighted and frustrated. Ignoring all signs of his future slipping away with his focus, Percy continued to glare at the clock. _Stupid SATS_.

"Do you hate society as much as I do?" Percy grumbled, as he and his friend Rachel left the gym twenty minutes later.

"Relax, will you? You probably did fine," Rachel replied, giving him an affectionate smirk.

"And if I didn't?" Percy asked, refusing to forget about the exam.

"Then we can both skip college and get jobs." She smiled, but Percy was evidently not in the mood for jokes. "Hey, come on," she said, pulling him down the sidewalk. "You promised to meet Sally at the diner."

"Oh right," Percy said, "Crap, she's going to want to know how it went."

Rachel groaned in irritation. "Cheer up already! You're almost done with high school - forever!"

His mouth twitched as he considered this. "Yeah. It seemed like that would never happen."

"I know what you mean. Anyway, is Paul going to be there?"

"At lunch?" Percy asked, "Nah, he's at the school still. Probably will be all day."

"Cool," Rachel replied, nodding along, "Well –" she cut off suddenly, squinting at something across the street.

"What?" Percy asked.

"Huh? Oh, um, nothing," she replied, shaking her head, "Just thought I saw something." She forced a laugh, "I must be more stressed than I thought." She anxiously glanced around them again, "Listen, I'm going to go home and get some rest, okay? It's been a long morning."

"Yeah, okay," Percy said, too absorbed with his own worries to notice her strange behavior. "Call me later."

"Sure," Rachel said, distractedly hailing a nearby cab, "Have a nice lunch." Percy walked the last three blocks alone, doing his best not to dwell upon thought of college and the future.

"Hey mom," he said, sliding across from her in a booth.

"Hi honey," she replied, thrusting a glass of water and plate of waffles in his direction. "How was it?"

He shrugged, attempting to remain impassive, "Oh, you know. We'll see." He quietly sipped the water, trying to soothe his nerves. "What's up?"

"Well," Sally said, "Percy, I need to talk to you." She sounded extremely serious and Percy looked up, alarmed. "About college," she continued.

_Oh boy, I have to repeat twelfth grade. _He thought immediately, unable to come up with any other scenarios. Sally must have noticed his panicked expression because she quickly said, "No, no, it's nothing _you've_ done, don't worry. I'm just… I'm sorry I didn't tell you before the SATS."

"Why?" Percy asked, slightly on edge.

She sighed, taking his hand in hers, "First, I think it's time I told you about your father."

Percy gaped at her. Never once in his eighteen years of life had she approached the subject. And in the same context as college… nothing good could come from that.

A/N – No worries, the next chapter will be much longer and more eventful. This is basically just set up. Hope you enjoyed!


	2. Paternity

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Also, major kudos to my talented beta and awesome friend **greekmythologyluver**.

"Um, okay," Percy said, his heart rate speeding up.

"But first," Sally continued, "I need you to promise me that you won't fight this. You have to go home and pack, because I'm driving you up tonight."

"Driving? Mom, what –"

Sally put her hand up to stop him. "Honey, please. Just promise me."

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Percy said, shrugging. "I promise."

"Alright." She took a deep breath, forcing herself to keep eye contact with Percy. "Your father is a very special man, Percy." Percy did his best to refrain from scoffing in reply. "There's a reason he was never around. He couldn't possibly have been." She paused, changing tactics. "Percy, what do you remember about Greek mythology?"

"Uh... we learned about them in fifth grade or something. But Mom, will you get to the point already?"

Sally nodded, turning Percy's head so that he was looking at her. "Your father is a Greek God."

"What?" Percy asked, both confused and skeptical, "What the hell does that mean?"

"It means exactly what it says it means," his mother replied, anxiously watching her son's expression. "I – I can't tell you any more than that. But, don't you see?" She was imploring him to understand. "This is why your life has always seemed so hectic. It's why you were dyslexic and why-"

"Weird stuff always happened to me," Percy supplied, the wheels in his mind viciously spinning. He spluttered for a moment, trying to think of what to say. "This makes no sense though! The age of the gods, wasn't that thousands of years ago?"

Sally smiled, her eyes sad. "That's what everyone thinks."

Percy nodded, trying desperately to wrap his mind around the information. "Well, okay then. It's not like this changes anything, does it? It's not like anything has to change."

His mom lowered her voice to a whisper. "Percy, you're a demigod!"

"A what?" Percy asked, even though he sort of knew what it meant.

"Honey, listen to me. I know that I'm asking a lot from you, trying to understand this all at once. Just – your part god!"

Percy stared at his hands. They didn't look all that extraordinary or anything. He looked back up at his mother. "Is that – I mean, did you know? When you, um,"

Sally shook her head. "I'm sorry, Percy but that's all I can tell you." He folded his arms, royally annoyed.

"Why tell me now, though?" Percy asked, "It makes no difference, does it?" He was praying that the answer was no, so that he might go home and forget they ever had this insane conversation.

"Sweetheart, the second I told you, you became unsafe here." She retook his hand in hers, doing everything possible to get through to him. "You don't believe me? You stay here another day and you might not be alive."

Now Percy's head was truly swimming, and he muttered something incoherent about why he had to know at all.

"Because your eighteen," Sally sat up straighter, fixing him with a nostalgic expression. "That's the age where you're supposed to know."

"But wait, why do I have to pack or whatever?"

Sally sighed. "There's a place where I can take you. A school of gods, or demigods at least. You'll be safe there."

"A school?" Percy asked incredulously, "What about college?"

"It is a college, honey."

Percy suddenly found himself getting angry. "I don't want to go!" His voice rose ominously, and Sally had to shush him. "No, I had plans! Rachel and I, we were going to go to the same school. I just took the SATS!"

"I know, and I'm sorry about that. I meant to tell you weeks ago, but I just couldn't do it." She looked so sad, that Percy almost felt guilty about yelling. "It's too late now, though. I need you to go home and pack so that I can take you up there. It's a pretty long drive."

"Mom, this is crazy!" Percy exploded, "What about Rachel, what about Paul?"

She patted his hand, "Don't you worry about that. They're my job. Please honey, just do this, alright?" Her voice wobbled tremulously. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

Percy sighed. Even he couldn't resist that kind of guilt trip. "Yeah, okay, I'll do it. But if I'm going crazy or something, you have to pay for all the therapy."

Sally smiled. "Deal."


	3. Hitchhiking

Percy grumbled, trying to hoist his duffle bag into the trunk of their car. His mom had suggested that he pack the majority of his clothes, as that way he wouldn't have to do laundry as often. He had also been forced to surrender his cell phone, something that put him in a particularly bad mood.

"I'm sorry, honey," Sally said, glancing nervously at him. "I just can't risk you putting yourself in danger. I know if you keep it you're going to want to call your friends."

Percy replied by pulling his headphones over his ears and tuning her out. Maybe that was true, but he still didn't think it was fair of her to expect him to abandon his entire life in one day.

"What are you going to tell everybody?" He finally asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Oh, I don't know," Sally said, her voice tired. "I'll figure something out."

Percy nodded, her evasiveness giving him a headache. "I think it's going to rain," he said, pointing at the encroaching storm clouds.

"Well, that's okay, these are the back roads so they'll probably be empty anyway." She looked quickly at Percy, trying to smile encouragingly. "Are you nervous?"

Percy shrugged. "Am I supposed to be? I don't really know what to expect, do I?" he asked pointedly.

Sally sighed. "I do happen to know that they're not going to make you start classes right away."

"They're not?" Percy asked, surprised.

"Of course not, sweetie. You're still in high school. They'll give you a couple of months to settle into your room."

Percy considered this. "Yeah, okay. But then what? I mean, are there just regular classes or something?"

"I think I should probably wait for them to explain that to you." Percy didn't reply.

"I'm sorry honey, really," Sally said, after a few minutes. "But everything I tell you puts you in danger."

Percy frowned. "And you can't even tell me who my father is?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm sorry."

It took all of Percy's energy not to burst with fury. It was hard to believe that just that morning he'd been taking the SATS.

"There it goes," Sally said quietly, reacting to the sudden torrents of rain. Percy ignored her. "Honey, can you just check the back window every once in a while? It's hard to see through all this."

Percy obediently turned, checking to see if they could turn. "Your fine," he said, "There're like no other cars on the road."

Sally nodded, seeming relieved. "Alright, good."

"Hey mom, where is this place anyway?" Percy asked, noticing some signs indicative to their location.

"Oh, it's about another hour away," she said, "I can't tell you the exact location."

"Of course," Percy said, his voice vile with sarcasm.

"Honey, please," Sally said, "I'm just trying to protect you."

Percy grew quiet after that, doing his best not to think about everything that was going to come. He was still a bit surprised with himself for accepting all that he'd been told; it left him wondering if perhaps he'd always thought that something was different about him.

"There's a car," Percy announced absentmindedly.

"A car?" For some reason Sally sounded slightly panicked.

"Mhmm," Percy replied.

She stalled the car, her face pale against the evening sky. "Alright, I'll double back I think, head over on the other highway."

"_What_?" Percy said, exceedingly aggravated, "That's in the other direction!"

"Shh… not now Percy." She was biting down on her tongue, her eyes glued to the sight of the car in the rearview mirror. "Honey, see if you can get a look at the driver."

"What?" Percy replied, sufficiently annoyed.

"Percy!" Sally replied, trying to keep her eyes on the road, "Do you not understand how important this is?"

"Fine, sorry," Percy mumbled, spinning his head slightly. "Can't see him anyway."

Sally timed looking at him with slamming her foot on the gas pedal, the combination of which made Percy wince. "You're not just saying that, are you?" she said, her face taught with worry.

"No…" Percy said reluctantly, "Uh, is everything okay?"

She ignored him, thinking hard. "We'll go to the nearest gas station, you can go inside and go out on the other end. Run down the highway's sidewalk, I'm sure someone will pick you up before long."

"Pick me up? What, like hitchhiking?" Despite the gravity of the situation, Percy found himself grinning. It was one of those wild adventures that he and Rachel had always wanted to try.

Sally answered him vaguely, obviously focusing on speeding to the nearest Exxon. "Of course not. They're prepared for something like this." She stole another glance at her son. "It's almost never a safe journey."

"But," Percy began, doing his best to retain a fragment of common sense, "How will I know who to flag down?"

"Don't flag down anybody," Sally said, suddenly sounding both lucid and stern. "The right people will find you, don't worry." She grimaced. "You just have to run, okay baby? This – this could be dangerous."

She suddenly hit the brakes, causing Percy to jolt forward in his seat. "I love you Percy. I'll see you soon, okay?"

It took Percy a moment to realize that she was saying goodbye. "Wait, just like this?" he asked, slightly appalled. "I – I can't just _run_."

"Honey, you have to," his mother replied softly, reaching up to stroke his hair, "Don't worry, everything's going to be fine." Her intended comfort only made him long to stay with her in the dry, safe comfort of their car.

They let several seconds pass, enjoying the moment of relative peace. Finally, Percy drew a shaky breath and tossed his secondhand ipod next to her. "Keep it charged, okay?" He leaned over, giving her a hug, "I love you mom."

She smiled genuinely as he climbed from the car. "That's my boy."

"See you mom," Percy said, giving her a half-wave as he headed behind the gas station.

"Remember, don't stop running!" she called after him.

Percy's heart couldn't help but skip a beat as he heard the car start. There was nowhere else to go now; he had to figure this out alone. He obediently headed for the highway, doing his best to keep pace despite the downpour.

At first, it was kind of fun, like he was some fugitive heading for safety. However, the rain persisted and it wasn't long before Percy's sneakers were slick against the sidewalk. He stumbled several times, all the while trying not to lose energy or get too cold. The prospect that there were many ways he could die before reaching safety was certainly not encouraging.

Just as Percy was about to give up and pass out, a honking car sent his adrenaline into overdrive. But there was something about the rain and the haziness of the situation that caused Percy to stop, and stare at the car. Even if it meant his death, he knew that there was no way he could get anywhere by running.

His body froze exaggeratedly as the car's window was rolled down. "Hey, do you need a lift?"

A million thoughts whizzed through Percy's head, finally leading to mumbled acceptance. "Thanks," he said quietly, allowing the sudden increase in temperature to calm his panic. "I'm Percy."

He flinched involuntarily as the driver smiled. Obviously he was about to die or something. "Oh good, I almost thought I'd picked up the wrong person. Nice to meet you Percy, I'm Grover."


	4. The Minotaur

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate it.

"I thought for a second there we weren't going to get you." Grover gave him a lopsided grin. "Lucky your mom dropped you when she did, or she might have been killed."

"Killed?" The seatbelt restrained Percy from standing, but he jolted forward rather violently, startling Grover. "What the hell? No one told me –"

"Oh, right, sorry," Grover said, "You still don't know much, huh?" He smiled again and Percy felt his insides flare. "Well, don't worry, she's fine. It's you I'm more concerned about. How are your fighting skills?"

"Fighting?"

Grover nodded. "Are you trained at all?"

"Trained? Um, no. I was in JV football one year…"

"No, that won't do," Grover replied, sighing, "I guess you'll just have to use the regular tactics."

"Uh, okay?" Percy replied uncertainly. He was still a bit too dazed to care much about any further ridiculousness.

"You have to run, and then jump out of his way, alright?" Grover spoke with an odd mix of casual concern that greatly annoyed Percy.

"His who and what do you mean?" Percy replied, purposely sounding bored.

"The Minotaur," Grover replied softly, "You have to jump out of his way. You aren't practiced enough to defeat it."

"Whatever you say."

"So do you think you can do that?"

"Do what?"

"Dodge him!" Grover said, his voice rising suddenly.

Percy shrugged. "Yeah, sure."

Grover's breath audibly sped up, unnerving Percy the teeniest bit. "Please, you have to understand how important this is. I'm a fourth year intern!" He looked around desperately, lowering his voice for emphasis, "If I lose the first demigod we've had all year, I might lose my status."

"Lose me?" Percy smirked in spite of himself.

Grover deflated. "I'm sorry, your right. I shouldn't care about my job when your life is on the line. Mine too, actually."

"Yours too? Well then, maybe I should be thanking you."

He had intended it as sarcasm, but Grover replied anyway. "Oh, don't mention it. Like I said, it's my fourth year."

"So your good at this?" Percy asked, apprehension for his wellbeing edging into his perspective.

"Yeah, I guess so," Grover said proudly. He paused, shaking his head sadly, "Only Thalia was better than I am."

"Your ex-girlfriend?" Percy inquired, resorting to Rachel's favorite method of entertainment.

Grover looked aghast. "No, no. Well, not exactly. No… maybe not at all." He sounded flustered, and Percy almost felt badly for him.

"Uh, never mind. You don't have to get into it." Percy shrunk back against the seat, his body relaxing to the smooth hum of the car's motion. They sat in relative silence for a while, Grover occasionally whistling or muttering under his breath.

"Not to be retarded or anything," Percy said finally, "But are we getting close?" He partially shut his eyes, willing away the speeding scenery.

"Almost there actually," Grover said, grinning brightly, "We may manage to –" There was a loud crack on the roof of the car. "Or not!" His voice rose to a loud yelp. "Ah! Shit! This is a borrowed car!" The rest of his exclamations were drowned out by a roaring sound. The Minotaur.

"Fuck," Percy mumbled, as the ceiling caved in on them. "What do we do?" He was too much of a novice to truly understand the need for panic.

"I told you," Grover shouted, fiddling fruitlessly with the door.

"Run ahead, and then get out of his way!"

Percy rolled his eyes, "Yeah, thanks, got that part. What about _now_?"

"We have to run!" Grover repeated, his voice a shrill screech.

"Okay, okay," Percy said, giving up, "Well how 'bout we get out of here first?" He gave the door a swift push, noticing for the first time Grover's hooves. "You could have asked for help you know."

Grover's response was inaudible, due to the sudden burst of angry growling. Percy decided instinctively that perhaps it _wouldn't _be a good idea to get caught up with one of those monster-things.

"Percy, hurry!" Grover yelped. He was already a sizeable distance away, and Percy had to barrel after him in order to get out of the Minotaur's way. "When I say," Grover said, "We jump into the bushes, got it?"

Percy nodded, ready to voluntarily dive into a pile of thorns, when they heard a loud snap. Percy winced before he saw it: the trunk of a tree in the hands of the Minotaur.

"Not good, is it?" He stated in a monotone, edging towards the sides of the path. Grover shook his head, seemingly in shock. The second of response time cost him dearly, as he was then swatted over with the wood.

Percy fell over just in time, avoiding the blow of the Minotaur's weapon. He nearly gagged, the combined image of the Minotaur's torso and Grover's unconscious body making him woozy.

"Hey, look here!" He shouted on impulse, trying desperately to prevent further harm from coming to his escort. Picking up a rock on the ground, he flung it with all his strength at the Minotaur's head, knocking it partially to the ground.

"Yes!" Percy cried, delighted by his temporary victory. He watched Grover being dropped, sighing in relief as he landed in a patch of grass. Then he hurried back to the decimated sedan, in frantic search of something he could use. He finally ripped off the outside handle of the door. It was better than nothing.

The Minotaur still seemed to be in agony, as it teetered around aimlessly, hollering at all of plants in the forest. Percy used its distracted nature to his benefit, charging at his knees with the handle. This had the desired effect, for the monster then tumbled downward, nearly crushing Percy beneath it.

It was far from dead though, as evident from its repulsive panting and groaning. Percy looked about wildly, wondering what else he could possibly do. Finally, inspiration struck. He grabbed one of the Minotaur's horns and yanked, as hard as he possibly could. It broke loose, and the scream of pain was the last noise the creature made. Percy dug the horn heartlessly through its body, piercing his neck and ribs. At last it was over.

The monster vanished into pixels, leaving Percy to exhaustedly celebrate his triumph. He grinned, despite it all, and thrust his fist in the air. It was the first time in his life he'd felt so accomplished. For just a moment, he forgot about all of the half-blood business. Regardless of whatever else was true, he'd defeated something that he thought had only existed in stories. It felt good.

Heading over to retrieve Grover, he stumbled clumsily over the tree trunk and landed on the ground. He smiled one last time as his fragile consciousness slipped away.

A/N: I know I handled his reaction very differently than it is in the book, but much less is at stake here, so it's understandable. And don't worry, Sally's still going to end up in Hades. Annabeth will finally appear in the next chapter, just so you guys know. Hope you enjoyed!


	5. True to Your School

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Percy awoke to find Grover hovering over him. "Hey…" he said, "Are you okay?" He noticed that Grover had a bandage around his head.

"Am _I_ okay?" Grover exclaimed, "You just defeated the Minotaur! How do you feel?"

Percy smiled wryly. "So that explains the bruise."

"Really?" Grover sounded excited.

"Uh, actually I tripped. The scratches are from running from him though…"

"Well, I'm sorry about that. I wasn't supposed to make you do much defending on your first night. I may have my intern status demoted…"

Percy shrugged, grinning lightly. "That's okay. It was kind of cool, except for the danger thing." He was just happy that Grover seemed a million times less annoying than the day before.

"Oh, I almost forgot." He reached to the floor and put a box onto the cot. "His horn."

"His horn?"

"It's tradition."

"If you say so…" Percy asked, kind of fascinated by the dried blood. His very own handiwork… "So, you're really um, not entirely human?" He couldn't think of any politer way of asking.

Grover shook his head. "Nope. I wear fake feet most of the time though. It's less disconcerting to people when I leave campus."

"Is that where we are then? School campus?" Percy asked.

"Yup," Grover said happily, "Safe and sound. You can't get attacked here."

Percy raised his eyebrows. "A relief, I'm sure."

He nodded. "It should be. You'd be surprised how much some kids had to go through before we got them here."

Percy was about to retort with an abridged version of his life story, when the door burst open.

"Is he awake?" A female voice said.

"Yeah," Grover replied.

She was blonde, with that nerdy-preppy-chic look to her. "Great. HOW THE HELL COULD YOU TAKE ME CAR AND THEN DESTROY IT?!"

Her volume sent Percy diving under the covers. He was nearly sure she'd damaged his eardrums.

"I'm sorry!" Grover wailed, "They assigned me to stake-out at three in the morning, and there were no rentals!" He backed slowly into the corner of the room.

"Grover!" she yelled,. "I had to use all my years of tour guide salary to pay for it. It's going to take another four years."

"I'm so sorry, Annabeth," Grover said sadly, "I'll pay you back, I swear."

"You'd better," she said coldly.

"…On the brightside," Grover began, "Meet Percy Jackson."

She grinned. "We've met. I spooned all that puree crap into his mouth."

"Thanks?" Percy replied questioningly.

"You're welcome. And you drool by the way." Percy wiped instinctively at the corners of his mouth, embarrassed.

"Listen," Annabeth continued, "Chiron wants to talk to you, and then he wants you and Percy to go meet Mr. D."

"Okay," Grover said, sighing, "I'll be back in a minute. Annabeth, can you stay with him just in case he needs anything?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes but consented anyway. Grover left, shutting the door behind him.

"I'm Annabeth," Annabeth said.

"Yeah, I heard Grover say so," Percy replied awkwardly.

"How much do you know?" Annabeth asked, attempting to make conversation.

"What do you mean?"

"About here… about your heritage."

"Um… apparently I'm the spawn of stories I read in elementary school?" He was kidding, but she looked appalled.

"You really shouldn't talk like that here! Insulting the gods is never wise, especially not when they're doing everything they can to keep you safe."

"To keep me safe?" Percy scoffed, "I was almost killed!"

Annabeth clenched her fists. "New kids!" she groaned, saying under her breath, "You have so much to learn."

"What, so you believe all this stuff?" Percy said incredulously.

"Of course," Annabeth replied, "I guess it's understandable that you don't though. You did just get here." Percy wondered if that was her way of apologizing.

"But… it does get better. You will most likely be claimed, eventually."

"Claimed?"

Annabeth nodded. "By your immortal parent. Your?"

"Father," Percy supplied, "My mom was so crazy, she wouldn't tell me."

"Well, no, she wouldn't have," Annabeth said, brushing a curl out of her face, "That's not how it's done."

"Why not?" Percy challenged.

"Because it's not! Mortals can't just decide how things are done!"

Percy blew his hair out of his face. "Works real well in the rest of the world."

She stomped on the ground in frustration. "Never mind," she said at last, "You'll understand when you're ready, I guess."

"So wait, how is this claiming business done?" Percy asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"It is different with each half-blood. I'm a daughter of Athena." She sounded so incredibly proud that Percy decided not to mock.

"And what does that do? When I'm claimed, I mean."

"You'll join a fraternity."

"A fraternity?" Now Percy really did laugh, images of his cousin's fraternity brothers blending with those from his old mythology book. It was too ludicrous to accept just yet.

"Yes," Annabeth said, cutting in on his enjoyment. "You'll be with others like you, that way. Until then, you stay in the regular dorms, sponsored by the Hermes fraternity."

Deciding to prod at her just a little, Percy continued. "Just wondering… are the fraternities mandatory? I'm not all that big a fan of school stuff…"

"Tough. You join out of respect for your father, whoever he may be."

The door reopened then, and Grover slipped back into the room. Percy felt surprised, noticing his eyes were red-rimmed and his mouth pulled into a frown. "Is everything okay?" Percy asked, concerned.

Grover looked at him for a long moment, and then made eye contact with Annabeth. "Oh yeah… I'll talk to you about it later." Another tear rolled down his cheek, and Percy was confused. He'd never been to any place so strange before.

"But look," Grover said, trying to cheer up, "I brought you a school sweatshirt!" He handed Percy an orange hoodie, with Schola Superum written in black script.

"Schola Superum?" Percy asked, trying to focus on the things he _could_ understand. "What's that?"

"It's our school's name," Annabeth said, seemingly trying not to look at Grover. "It means school of the gods. Welcome."

"Are you ready to meet the headmaster and grade dean?" Grover asked. Percy shrugged. "After that we can get you settled," Grover said.

"Wait, Grover," Annabeth said, following after them, "You should warn him about Mr. D first. He has a tendency to be disrespectful." She glared at him.

"Okay," Grover said, "Percy… how much do you know about Greek mythology?"

"Not all that much," Percy said, "I'm not really the type who pays attention in school." Annabeth made a face.

"Well, do you remember the gods at least?" Grover asked.

"I guess, kind of," Percy said.

"Good," Grover replied, nodding. "Just… be careful what you say, alright?"

"Sure," Percy replied. Something dawned on him, and he jumped on the spot. "Wait, this guy's a god?! On campus? Whoa…"

"He's the headmaster," Annabeth replied, smiling slightly at his reaction.

"So be tactful," Grover said.

"I'll do my best," Percy said, honestly.

They went up a couple flights of stairs, Percy goggling at everyone he saw pass. They didn't all look so incredible, or anything. Finally, they arrived at a grand looking office, all the way on the top floor of the building.

"Here we go," Grover said, "See you later Annabeth."

"Bye," she said, glancing at them both nervously. "Don't forget about the car, Grover."

"I won't," he muttered.

Percy stepped inside to the room, finding two expectant-looking adults staring at him. The first, was a not-quite-human man in a wheelchair, and the second was a curly-haired bum.

"Ah, Percy," the wheelchair one said, coming up to him. "It's excellent to meet you. I'm so very sorry about –" He noticed Grover waving his hands frantically, and abruptly changed directions. "… your journey here. We'd hoped it would go more smoothly than that."

Percy wasn't _that_ dumb. He knew when he was being kept out of the loop. But they had said to watch his mouth, so he merely said, "Uh, thanks. It's okay, really. I've heard it would be good practice."

The other man scoffed. "You hear that Chiron? He's been here a few hours and he's already searching for fights. Sometimes I wonder why we bring them in at all."

"This is Mr. D," the man in the wheelchair said, "And I'm Chiron. We are very glad that you're here, Percy."

"Thanks…" Percy replied, looking uncertainly at Mr. D. He didn't seem so godlike. Or so nice, for that matter.

"What are you staring at?" He snapped. He turned back to Chiron, and Grover winced. "I really dislike these mortals."

Chiron gave Percy a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Percy. You'll get along wonderfully with the other kids. Here is your temporary room key, as well as a course schedule. Due to your young age, you only have three a week. Sword fighting, ancient Greek, and then one of your choice."

"Alright," Percy said. He wondered if it was bad that he felt upset about the classes. After all, his mom had promised he wouldn't have any right away.

Chiron hesitated. "Now, is the part where we tell you a little about life here. And – and what you can expect."

"Oh, that's okay," Percy said. He hadn't meant it as rude, but it sort of sounded that way. "Annabeth already told me everything."

"Everything? Are you sure?" Chiron said uncertainly.

"Yeah, I think so," Percy said, "She told me all about that claiming stuff, and uh, the fraternities."

Chiron smiled. "Perhaps we ought to give her a raise in salary. Alright, then. Why don't you go and get settled, and then we'll see you after dinner. Don't hesitate to come back if you have questions."

"Sure," Percy said, "Thanks." He heard Mr. D muttering about disrespectful children as they left.

"You know, you might have wanted to hear that," Grover said, "Kids find it beneficial a lot of the time. It helps to settle the confusion."

Percy shrugged, sighing. "Honestly, I think I'm going to be confused either way, so I'd rather have the extra time to set up my room."

"Your call," Grover replied. "Anyway, we have to go meet the RA, so we may as well go find Annabeth."

"She's the RA?"

"No, she knows him," Grover said airily. They found her outside with a few other blonde kids.

"Done already?" She looked surprised.

"Percy told them that you told him everything."

"What?" For some reason, she sounded annoyed.

"Chiron's considering giving you a raise," Grover said.

Annabeth tried hard not to smile. "Oh… okay then."

"We have to go find Luke," Grover said, "You're coming?"

She nodded, grinning. "Sure."

"Who's Luke?" Percy asked, "The RA?"

Annabeth nodded, "And my boyfriend."

A/N: Hope you liked it! Please review!


	6. Close Encounters

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I appreciate it! Hope you like the chapter! : )

Percy felt his self-esteem slide down about thirty points at the sight of Luke. He managed to be both slim and ripped, with storybook eyes and hair. His only apparent flaw was a long gash, running down the middle of his face. Percy braced himself, attempting to grin in Luke's direction.

"Um hey," Percy said, reaching out to shake Luke's hand. "I'm Percy."

"Hi Percy," Luke replied, keeping perfect eye contact with him, "I'm Luke. I'm the RA, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask."

Percy continued to smile, a bit uncomfortably. He didn't know how to talk to those overachiever types. "You're a senior then?" he asked at last, glad for something to say.

Luke shrugged. "I guess you could say that," he answered, "I've been here for much longer though. Me and Annabeth came here when we were kids." At that, he swooped down to give Annabeth a passionate kiss on the lips. When they broke apart, his arm was protectively around her shoulders.

Percy couldn't help but feel… odd about it. For one thing, they looked more like brother and sister, what with the hair and all. Another strange thing was the look on her face. She seemed so _proud_, and Percy couldn't fully understand it.

"Hey Grover," Luke said, turning away from both of them. "How are you, man? I heard you had a rough day."

Percy was about to chime in with his own feelings over the incident, when Annabeth interjected. "Guys, dinner's in a couple of hours. Do we want to show Percy his room, or what?"

"Of course," Luke said, his smile returned to maximum florescence. "Follow me this way, Perce."

Percy winced. Perce made him think of the character from _Harry Potter_. "I'm staying the regular dorms, right?" Percy asked, curiously looking at a bunch of fraternity and sorority posters.

"Yeah," Luke replied, continuing to lead the way, "My dorm, actually. Sponsored by my father, Hermes, God of travelers."

"Cool…" Percy replied, "And, um, thanks."

Luke laughed gently, "No need to thank me."

"Wait, Hermes's kids don't have their own Fraternity?" Percy asked.

"No, we do," Luke answered, "Just they're in the building with the unclaimed kids' rooms."

"Are there a lot of unclaimed kids?" Percy wondered vaguely why he was babbling so much, and decided to blame it on his nerves. There was a lot to take in, after all.

"A few," Luke said. He eyed Percy reassuringly though, "Don't worry though, almost everyone is claimed eventually."

_Almost everyone. I wouldn't put it past the universe to make me the only unclaimed kid, fifty years from now. _

"The rooms are nice," Percy commented, offhand. He liked their big windows and plush carpets.

"I'm glad you think so," Luke said, "Would you like to take a look in one of them?"

"Could we?" Percy asked, intrigued. He really wanted to see what a child of a god did with their room decoration.

"Sure," Luke said, "We'd better knock though."

"Luke," Annabeth whispered, not all that quietly, "This is the Ares sorority."

Luke hesitated for a moment, and then proceeded to knock on the door, "He may as well meet the other students."

It swung open nearly momentarily, as if the resident had been waiting for their arrival. She was a hulky biker chick, and from what Percy could see, her room was decked in tacky red wallpaper and posters.

"What?" She said, somewhere between a snap and a drone.

"Hi Clarisse," Luke said, his lips pinched in a grin. "This is Percy."

Her face morphed from expressionless to agitated to amused. "A freshman, interesting," she finally said. Percy was left to shift back from foot to foot, waiting for someone else to speak.

"What are you staring at?" Clarisse said, her hands on her hips.

"Huh?" Percy gawked, realizing he his eyes were glued to the hideous room. "Nothing, sorry…"

"You know kid, if you aren't careful you could get on my bad side." She obviously didn't have a wit to match her ego, and it nearly made Percy smile.

"'Kid'?" Percy questioned. "If I were you, _I _would be careful." He wasn't sure what made him push her, but he did anyway.

"Excuse me?" Clarisse said, mouth open in surprise, "Watch your mouth, wiseass."

"… You do understand how everything you say contradicts itself?" Percy said.

She clenched her fists, evidently ready to floor him. Apparently she was good at that sort of thing too, for her arms were tight around his throat before anyone could react.

"Let him go!" Grover said, meekly adding a please when she got close up in his face. Luke and Annabeth protested slightly as well, although it made no difference. She held him in a headlock, neither releasing him nor pulling him to the ground.

"What is this, you trying to impress your dad or something?" Percy egged her on. Evidently this was a bad idea, as his spine then made contact with the wooden doorstep. _Ouch_. She packed a powerful punch, too.

Just as Percy began to feel short of breath, there was a scream from somewhere in the room. "Clarisse!" a voice called, "Our whole room's flooding!"

"_What_?" Clarisse snapped, releasing him in shock. He scrambled away, cracking his joints as he stood up. "What do you mean it's flooding?" she yelled.

"I mean, everything's covered with water!" the girl called.

"What the hell?" She stormed into the room, slamming the door behind her.

Percy laughed, hardly believing his lucky break. "What a coincidence, huh?" he said, still grinning, "Hey, why don't we go look at my room now, okay? I've still got some questions."

"Sure," Luke replied, hand still on the small of Annabeth's back. "Let's go." Percy was too relieved to notice the strange looks that the three of them gave him.

A/N: Hope you liked it! Reviews are appreciated.


	7. Falling

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I appreciated it! Quick disclaimer thing: Bagels and Co is a real place, rather near to Percy's house in the books.

Percy was in high spirits by the time they headed to dinner. His room was nice, although notably not as large as the fraternity ones. Better still though, was the fact that Luke, Annabeth and Grover seemed to have much more respect for him. He hoped that maybe his confrontation with Clarisse had pushed him past new kids status in their eyes.

"Is the food here good?" he asked, stomach rumbling for some of Sally's cooking.

"It's okay," Annabeth replied, "Typical camp food, I guess you could say."

"I've never been to camp," Percy said.

"Me neither." Percy tried to smile at her, but she was pointedly staring in the other direction.

"Do you think they'd let me call my mom after dinner?" Percy asked. Grover sniffed, his gaze cast down, but Percy didn't notice.

"We don't use phones here," Luke said, "It's too easy for monsters to find us that way. Instead we use Iris messages."

"Iris Messages?"

"You know, she rides the rainbows?" Grover said quickly, giving the best laments explanation he could.

"Oh, right!" Percy exclaimed, even though he didn't have a clue. His new goal was not to appear completely moronic. Annabeth smirked in his direction, and he wondered if his cover had been too enthusiastic.

Out of the corner of his eye, Percy saw Grover whisper something to Luke, but he stopped when he noticed Percy looking.

With an airy smile upon his face, he said, "Do you like your room?"

"Yeah, it's pretty cool," Percy replied, nodding along. "Kind of psyched to join a fraternity though. Those rooms seemed much sweeter."

"They are," Luke agreed. "Think of it as gratuity from your father."

"Are there fraternities and sororities for each god?" Percy asked.

"Almost," Annabeth replied.

"Huh?" Percy mumbled, evidently not considering slight ignorance the same as idiocy.

"The Big Three," Luke began, "They made a pact not to have kids."

"Why not?" Percy asked, "And sorry, but um, who are the Big Three?"

Glancing almost apologetically at the sky, Annabeth said, "Zeus, Poseidon and Hades."

"It was because their children would be too powerful."

Percy mulled this over. "Well, I guess that makes sense. Sucks for them though, right?" Annabeth closed her eyes, either to suppress smacking him or laughing, and Luke and Grover both chuckled.

"You've managed to find sympathy for the most powerful immortals of all," Luke said, "I'm impressed."

Percy continued to smile. "But wait, so they don't have fraternities or sororities?"

"They have _buildings_ for them," Annabeth said, "Out of tribute. But no one actually lives there."

"Ah, got it," Percy said, "Oh cool, is this the dining hall?"

"Yeah," Grover replied, speaking for the first time in a while. "Are you ready?"

"Sure," Percy replied, "I'm starving." He shot a quizzical look at Grover, uncertain as to why he was so gloomy. Things were shaping up to be pretty good.

"Here's your ID," Luke said, handing Percy an ugly little card. "You go swipe it over there, and then you can take whatever you want."

"Awesome," Percy replied, "Ha, I can't believe my grade has to wait another seven months for this."

"He's adjusting well," Annabeth muttered, after Percy had run off to the pizza line.

Grover shook his head sadly. "I wish I didn't have to tell him tonight."

"You've got to," Luke said, looking at Grover nervously. "The longer he's in the dark, the worse it will be. Besides, he wants to Iris her tonight."

"I know," Grover squeaked, "Poor kid, he seems so nice, too." Annabeth rolled her eyes, leaving the two of them behind at door.

"Does she not like him?" Grover asked Luke. "I think he's cool."

Luke shrugged. "You've got to think about it from her point of view. She's hated making friends, ever since Thalia…" he trailed off. Thalia's death had hit them all in different ways.

"I guess," Grover said, sighing, "But Percy's a guy. They're completely different."

Luke raised his eyebrows. "Maybe not."

"Yeah?"

"You never know. Come on Grover, let's get a table."

Percy and Annabeth joined them a little while later, both bearing trays of food. "Hmm," Percy said, taking a bite of the pizza, "It's okay, not great. Nowhere near Bagels and Co."

"Bagels and Co?" Grover asked.

Percy nodded, "Pizza place near my house. Rachel and I go there a lot."

"Rachel?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah."

"Your girlfriend?"

Percy shrugged. "Nah, just a friend." He didn't fail to notice the way Luke slid his hand over Annabeth's. _Real smooth._

"What classes do you guys recommend?" Percy asked, desperate to change the subject before he got too homesick.

"Defense," Luke said, "It's great. Or history."

"I don't know," Annabeth said, "Since he's new, he might want to take something a little less strenuous. Crafts, maybe." Percy decided to take this as a dig at his intelligence, and felt minimally insulted.

"Or you could take a sport," Grover suggested, "They've got a lot of great teams. You mentioned you took football?"

"Yeah," Percy replied, "Kind of as a joke, though. My mom thought I needed an extra curricular."

"Were you any good?" Luke asked.

"Not bad, I guess," Percy replied, continuing to nibble at the mediocre pizza pie. "Hey, do you think I could go whatsa-message my mom, soon? She sometimes goes out for dinner, and stuff."

"It's Iris Message," Annabeth corrected, "And… how about Grover takes you when he's done?"

Grover fiddled with his stack of cans, looking distressed. "Alright, may be a while though."

"You're really eating those?" Percy asked.

Grover nodded. "I'm a Satyr, they're like protein for me."

"Heh, that's kind of cool," Percy replied. He found he was getting used to all of the quirks of Schola Superum. Even if it didn't seem sane yet, at least he could be happy.

They chatted mindlessly about some other stuff, Luke mostly peppering Percy with questions about his life. Percy answered them, despite his principal hatred for that sort of thing, mostly because he was glad that Luke was interested. With the obvious exception of the Ares kids, his fellow students had been fairly decent.

"Okay, you're done now, right?" Percy said, as Grover was biting down his last mouthful of metal.

"Nope, sorry, I've got to go get dessert now…"

Annabeth groaned, snatching his plate away. "Yes, he's done. We'll see you in a little while, okay?" she said solemnly, looking nervous.

"Bye," Percy said, waving.

"So now I can go message her?" Percy asked. He wasn't sure why his desire to speak to his mom were so strong, but for some reason he couldn't get the thought out of his mind.

"…Why don't we talk first?" Grover suggested.

He looked as if he was about to have an aneurysm, so Percy grudgingly sat on one of the benches. "Hey, are you okay?" He put a hand on Grover's shoulder, "Maybe we should take you to the infirmary."

"No, no, I'm fine," Grover replied, his shaking hand relaying otherwise. "It's just – Percy, sometimes bad things happen."

"Um… yeah?" Percy replied, more bewildered than ever.

"Oh Percy, I'm so sorry!" He wailed, his round eyes moist with tears. "It's your mom."

"What about her?" Percy asked, his voice challenging. He'd seen movies before, he knew what was coming. At least it explained why Grover had been acting so strange all day. He squeezed his hands together, willing the apparent gods to change the words he heard next.

"She was attacked," Grover replied, "By a monster. It often… most mortals don't survive that." He wept silently, waiting for Percy's response.

"Well, then," Percy said stiffly. He had no idea what to say or do; he'd never felt so completely abandoned by all sentiment. "I'm going to go walk then…" He jumped up from the bench, running off in the direction of the dorms. Grover was calling for him to come back, but he really didn't care.

He wasn't even sure where he was going, as he turned left after reaching his building. He didn't want to stop moving, because he knew that then he'd have to sit and think about it.

His mother… gone… It disobeyed the one underlining concept of his childhood: whatever might have happened to him, his mom was always by his side. He couldn't begin to understand why the world would do it to him. At last, running out of energy, he collapsed onto the grass and bawled.


	8. A Dead End

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Yay for _The Last Olympian_, even though I'm waiting until the summer to read it. : )

Percy's life quickly degenerated into something he didn't care about.

He attended classes, hardly paying any attention to them, and spent the rest of his time wandering around the school grounds. He found he didn't like his room so much after all; it was too cramped, and left very little space to breathe or think in.

Often times, he would wonder into the empty fraternity and sorority houses. They captured his interest rather aggressively, purely because the idea seemed so strange to him. Entire buildings, constructed and furbished, and no one would ever use them. He thought it was a stupid waste, even if they did make good escapes. When he was in the empty dorms, he at least knew that no one would bother him. Everyone seemed to stay away from the buildings that were not their own.

His new friends made it all the more awkward. Grover did his best to not act uncomfortably, but he ended up overcompensating and appearing fake. Percy would find Annabeth staring sadly at him, only to look away abruptly whenever he noticed. Only Luke remained the same. He was still kind and cheerful, talking in depth with Percy whenever Percy wanted to.

He also did not steer clear of the word 'parents', for which Percy was grateful. The only thing worse than remembering his mother, was hearing everybody try painfully hard not to bring it up. It made him feel sad _and_ different. Luke took things in the other direction, striking up long conversations about his own family.

Percy found himself stunned by Luke's story. It seemed so… awful, at least compared to his own. He wondered if his other friends had similar horrors in their lives, but never got up the courage to ask.

He also learned that Luke shared his anger at the gods, which made him feel rather comforted. Annabeth had acted as if it was high treason. At one point, he wanted to ask whether or not Luke had spoken to her about their differences of opinion, but decided against it. If they hadn't, he didn't want to be the one responsible for causing trouble in paradise. For the time being, anyway.

One day, Percy finally got up the courage to ask Luke for a favor.

"Would it be alright," he asked softly, his eyes glued to the mowed grass, "If I… Iris Message my friend Rachel?"

Luke stared at him for a moment, frowning. Percy quickly rephrased it. "I won't tell her where I am or anything, I just don't want her to worry. I don't want she and my step dad to be putting up missing fliers or anything." He felt his heart clench. Poor Paul.

Luke looked sympathetic. "I know it's hard, Percy. Trust me. You are not alone with this, many half bloods have had the same thing happen." It was intended as reassuring, but Percy felt a bit slapped. It was as if he was being told not to feel sad, only because he was not the first to lose his mother.

Percy nodded, anyway. Talking to Rachel was more important than getting his point across. "I know that… it's just, I miss her. Besides, she shouldn't have to suffer for everyone else's mistakes, right?"

Luke considered this, and Percy hoped that he was not beyond reason. The guy had to have a heart, after all. At last, he said, "You know what? Maybe you can. I'll talk to Chiron about it, later." He patted Percy on the back and left him alone on the grass.

Percy felt a little confused. He wanted to talk to Rachel, he really did. As it stood, she was the only one who could make him feel better. This thought hurt though, and he sort of felt as if he _couldn't_ talk to her yet. It would be too painful, and besides, he didn't really want to put her or Paul through all that. They'd both be mad, and upset at him for not telling them the truth. What could he do though? It wasn't as if his new life had left him with all that many options. Sighing, he headed over to his room. It was getting dark, and sleep was his only salvation anyway.

The next day, Percy groaned as the sun blared through the window. He was really not in the mood for classes. He got dressed as slow as humanly possible, and traipsed into the dining hall. He was right in the middle of considering cutting, when Grover sat down beside him.

"Hi Percy," he said brightly, waving one of his morning's cans.

"Hey Grover," Percy replied, not bothering to fake brightness. It was no secret how unhappy he was.

"So, listen…" Grover continued, looking apprehensive, "Next week, there are football tryouts."

"Seriously?" Percy replied, his interest partially hooked. "But it's spring. Why are they having them now?"

Grover blushed. "Okay, well not the actual tryouts. But I remembered you saying that you were on JV, so I asked if they'd let you try…" his encouraging smile dropped as he noticed Percy's expression. "You don't want to," he replied sadly, "Well, that's okay. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed."

The truth was, he _shouldn't_ have, but Percy felt badly anyway. "It's okay," he assured him, "Really. You know what? I'll try out. What have I got to lose anyway." This only seemed to make Grover sadder, and Percy had to refrain from rolling his eyes. He was really sick of trying not to hurt the satyr's feelings.

Annabeth and Luke showed up then, Luke wearing a huge smile. "Percy," he said, "I talked to Chiron, and he said you can message your friend today after classes."

Percy felt his pulse speed. "Thanks so much, Luke."

Annabeth looked upset. "What's he talking about? Luke, wait, what friend?"

"Rachel," Luke and Percy said together.

"She doesn't know where I am," Percy said quietly, staring at the table. "And she deserves too."

Annabeth's eyes narrowed. "Luke, I really think this is a bad idea."

"Shh," he quieted her, "It's fine. He wants to talk to his friend, let him."

Grover still looked sad, but didn't say anything. Percy guessed that he didn't want to get caught between Annabeth and Luke.

"After classes?" Percy interrupted, more than ready to get away from the table.

Luke nodded. "Yeah, just go to Mr. D's office. Chiron will tell you what to do."

"Great, thanks," he said, a little bit too quickly. "I'll see you guys later." He hurried off to sword fighting; the one class that didn't make him want to beat his head against a wall.

All day, his mind was somewhere else. He knew he had to do it, talking to Rachel, however hard it was going to be for him.

Finally, the day was over. He practically ran to the office, willing himself to get it over with.

Chiron was smiling sympathetically when he got there, already standing in front of a large picture-like thing. "You're sure you want to do this, Percy?" He looked nervous.

Percy nodded, before he could say no. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Alright," he replied, "I set it up for you. I'll be outside if you need me."

Percy felt his breathing speed as the vision in the screen changed. "Rachel!" he cried, before he could stop himself. She was there, red hair and all, and he felt somewhat okay again.

"Percy?" she practically screamed, her face contorted in a mixture of fury and relief. "Where the hell are you?"

Percy felt his insides recoil. He wanted so badly to tell her. "I can't… Rachel, I'm not allowed to say. But – but I'm okay, okay?"

"Not it's not okay!" she yelled, "I haven't seen you in three weeks! When are you guys coming home?"

'You guys'. She obviously thought that he and his mother were together. What was he supposed to do now? "Where's Paul?" he forced himself to ask.

She shrugged, still not appeased. "At home probably, worried sick. He's been calling the police every day."

Percy felt his eyes well up unexpectedly; he couldn't handle this. "Rachel… I have to tell you something. But, understand, I can't come home, okay? Not yet." He didn't bother saying that he didn't know when he'd be allowed to come home.

"Yeah, okay," she replied, more gently. She seemed to notice his tears. "What is it?"

"My mom," he replied, softly, "She's gone."

"Gone?" Rachel exclaimed, her voice hushed and shocked. "Oh my god. How'd it happen?"

He shook his head. "I can't tell you, but Rachel, I miss her." His voice shook as his tears began to fall.

She pressed her hands up against the screen, unaware of the conditions of an Iris Message. "I'm so sorry, Percy," she said, at last, "I don't know what else to say." He continued to cry, unable to stop himself. If she couldn't help him, then that meant no one could.


	9. Dorm Party

A/N: There are a lot of odd pairings in this chapter, I know. But you just have to chalk it up to the fact that they're in college. They're not as immature and nervous about relationships as they are in the books, and they're more comfortable with themselves. So yeah, slight PercySilena. Don't worry though, it will be Percabeth by the end of the story.

The evening before football tryouts, Percy found himself at a dorm party. Grover had insisted upon it, saying that he'd make friends, and after twenty minutes of nagging he consented. There was no harm in it, after all.

It was in the room of some Hermes kids, who were apparently two of the most badass on campus.

"They're frowned upon," Annabeth explained, as the four of them headed down the hall.

"What are?" Percy asked.

"Dorm parties. Mr. D worries that we'll cause too much trouble," Annabeth explained.

"Will we?"

She shrugged uncomfortably. "It's happened before, but not often."

Percy made a face. He usually liked stuff like this, but he wasn't really in the mood. It had only been a few days since he'd talked to Rachel, and he wasn't really over it. Grover had helped him back to his room and tried to talk to him, but Percy hadn't wanted to. Besides his mother's death and the separation from his best friend, he also had to cope with the dawning realization that he wasn't getting out for four years. It wasn't that Schola Superum was bad, exactly. He just missed the city.

"Anyway," Annabeth continue, "Luke and I usually make the rounds and then get out." She smiled. "Grover seems to think that sticking around makes him seem cool."

Grover shrugged. "Eh, it's fun. I get to live vicariously through the other students."

"Yeah?" Percy asked.

"Mmm. People hooking up and getting drunk and stuff."

Percy forced out a laugh, thinking to himself. He'd never had a girlfriend, really. He'd only ever been to second base, and that was at someone's sweet sixteen. He was kind of curious about how college romance worked.

They entered the room, and Percy immediately felt claustrophobic as they were swarmed with people. Apparently Luke was quite popular with some of the students. It was obvious that Grover and Annabeth were slightly less so, as they said 'hi' to a few people, and then moved out of the way.

Annabeth shot a significant look at Grover, and then tightened an arm around Luke's waist. "Come on, let's go get some drinks," she said.

He ignored her for a brief second, still enjoying the attention, and then let her pull him away. By the time they were gone, Grover was also out of sight, leaving Percy alone in the foyer.

"Hi."

Percy smiled at the sight of the pretty black-haired girl on his side. She was tall, and looked a few years older than he. "Hey," he replied, casually sticking his hand out. "I'm Percy Jackson."

"Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite." Her fingers were sleek and her nails polished; Percy wondered if all demigods were so obviously their parents' spawn.

"You like, just got here, right?" she asked.

"Yeah… not that long ago." He was about to say how it felt like forever, but decided not to. She might not like that. "Wanna… sit?" He slapped himself mentally. He usually wasn't so nervous around girls. It must have been the compulsive to desire to fit in, conflicting with his spectacular charm.

"Sure," she replied, gleefully. "So you're a freshman, right?"

"Um, pretty much. I mean, yeah, I am."

"Cool."

They sat in silence for a few awkward minutes. "And you haven't been claimed yet, right?" she asked.

"No, not yet." He wished that they could talk about normal things like movies and music. It was too weird, talking about all the demigod stuff.

They continued to roll along with uncomfortable one-liners, until her face was inches to his. He hadn't experienced it much before, but Percy had seen enough movies to realize that this was the point where you kiss the girl. So he did, even though he didn't exactly want to. Even though she was pretty, she wasn't really… his type. And besides, he hardly knew her.

It went on for a couple of peculiar moments, until Percy felt a tapping on his shoulder. He broke the kiss and turned, only to find Annabeth glaring at him.

"We're going outside," she said, her right eyebrow arched in slight annoyance.

"Huh?" Percy said, trying to regain rational though. "Why?"

"Clarisse is fighting a freshman, and Luke's trying to stop it. We're going to help him, come on, let's go." Had Percy been less distracted, he would have realized that this was the same thing she'd said when she was jealous of Luke's fangirls.

"Okay," he said finally, pushing himself off the couch. "Bye Silena…"

"Bye," she replied coldly, her eyes narrowed at them. Percy knew he shouldn't make out with a girl and then leave her, but he wasn't quite sure what else to do. He'd never… ended it with anyone, before.

"Silena Beauregard?" Annabeth asked, as they headed down to the exterior grounds.

Percy shrugged. He wanted to tell her that he'd just been curious, that he wasn't a player, but he didn't know how to phrase it right. He hated feeling so inexperienced at all this college stuff.

They made their way outside without discussing it further, and sure enough, Clarisse seemed to be picking on a young freshman guy.

Grover was standing a little to the side, and Luke was trying to break the two apart. As they grew nearer, Percy could hear all four parties shouting. Before he could stop himself, he jumped in and tried to pull Clarisse off of the guy. He'd have to start acting older, after all, if he ever wanted to belong.

"Percy!" Grover shouted, as Clarisse easily flipped him over. Well, at least the other guy would be okay.

"What the hell are you doing, loser?" she snapped at him, thrusting her fist in his face. He knew his complexion would be black and blue before morning.

He kicked her as hard as he could, but it didn't make a difference. They rolled down the hill, with Luke and the others chasing after them. The victim kid seemed to have stayed behind to help.

They started to pick up speed, and before Percy knew it the ground disappeared from under them. He heard Clarisse curse vehemently. Water. They were in the Long Island Sound, which bordered school grounds.

He watched her struggling, and wondered why. It wasn't as if the waters were that rough. It was weird, though. It seemed as if the current as avoiding him. It hit her, spinning her round and round, and left him untouched. He was just about to offer to help, when a gigantic wave came up and hit her. She was splashed to shore, and he swam out beside her.

He laughed. "Well, looks like that's over."

His friends' mouths were open in shock. "Percy…" Annabeth began, slowly. "We have to go talk to Chiron."

A/N: I know, he's claimed differently than in the books. Starting now I'll be straying a bit farther from the events of the back. It will still be the same gist and everything, it will just happen differently. Thanks for reading!


	10. A Quest

A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter! My school is on hiatus for swine flu, so here's another update. Hope you enjoy!

Percy felt as if he was on trial. He sat in front of Mr. D's desk, the God's eyes searing through his skull. Chiron was also there, wheelchair and all. He seemed tired.

"Well," he said, when Annabeth had finished explaining the turn of events. "This does explain some things that have happened in the last twenty four hours."

"Mmm?" Percy said. He had a feeling he was about to get a dose of bad news. _Again_.

"It's Zeus, his lightning bolt his gone missing," Chiron replied.

"And me being a whose-it has something to do with that?"

"Son of Poseidon," Annabeth whispered, in his ear. "Get used to saying it."

"He seems to think so," Chiron said. "The two brothers have had a long standing rivalry, and he seems to think…"

"That I have it?" Percy asked incredulously. "What the fuck? I only found out about this whole dad thing a couple minutes ago."

"Minutes can seem much longer in the gods' world," Chiron said.

This seemed backwards, as they were eons old, but no one corrected the centaur.

"Excuse me," Luke said, piping up. "Zeus thinks Percy took it – I mean, his lightning bolt?" His pale face flooded with color.

"Yes," Chiron said, "Which is why, I have planned a quest."

"A quest?" Percy said, before the others could react. "Like with a map and stuff?"

"No, that's map quest," Annabeth murmured.

Percy rolled his eyes, wondering if she'd always be his personal correction bulletin. Something like that could get annoying _fast_.

Chiron shook his head. "You see, it is our belief that Hades has taken the lightning bolt."

Annabeth and Grover shared a look, Luke stared straight ahead. Percy tilted his head in confusion. "What?"

"Hades? You've heard –"

"Yeah, yeah, I know who Hades is," Percy said. "But… what do you mean?"

"We think he has it," Chiron explained. "And for situations like this, a quest is called."

"Well, okay," Percy replied, "Will Zeus shut up, then?"

Annabeth slapped him lightly on the shoulder. "You're going to get an extra lightning in the sky for that, once you get it back for him."

"What, me?" Percy said, "Why me?"

Chiron looked sheepish. "Even though you are new, since you are both a child of a big three, and this concerns you…"

Percy leaned forward, his mouth open in surprise. "I'm going on a quest thing?"

"Oh be quiet," Mr. D snapped, speaking for the first time. "This will go a lot faster if you just let Chiron explain." He glared at Percy.

Percy sat back a little, folding his arms in indignation. He stopped speaking, though. "You have to go to California," Chiron explained, "Where the entrance to Hades is. You will have two friends to accompany you, and the three of you will enter and bargain with him." He glanced at Percy nervously. "It would probably not be a good idea to return without the lightning bolt."

Percy thought it over. He supposed he could say no. He could mention football tryouts, he could mention schoolwork. He could say that it was too much for them to ask of him, after all that had happened. But the truth was, he sort of wanted to do it. Hades… if it was the place he thought it was, he could see his mom again. That would be worth anything.

"Let's say I agree," Percy said, ignoring the sigh of frustration from Dionysus. "What happens?"

"You'll leave tomorrow, after breakfast. We'll send you with food and money and directions. Also, I have something for you." He reached under the table, and pulled out a blue pen.

"I hope you've been practicing," he said, smiling. He handed it to Percy.

"My penmanship? Um, not so much."

"It's a sword," Annabeth said, evidently exasperated with him. "It transforms, when you need it to."

"Oh," Percy replied, frowning at her. How could he have known that? "Uh, thanks." He knew they thought the sword would bring him some confidence about the journey, but it did nothing of the sort.

"Are you agreeing?" Chiron asked.

"Do I have a choice?"

Chiron smiled once again. "Not really, but we pretend."

Percy nodded. "Yeah, alright."

"Wonderful," Chiron replied, looking relieved. "Now, it is customary that the leader of any quest have two companions. Who would you like to pick?"

Percy turned to look at his three friends, and shrugged. "Decide amongst yourselves, I couldn't care less." He sank lower in his chair, suddenly tired. It was late, and the prospect of leaving in the morning was stressful.

Luke turned to Annabeth, grinning. "I've got to be an RA. You go."

She beamed, giving him a pretty hardcore kiss. "Thank you," she said, hugging him around the neck. "I love you so much."

Percy stuck out his tongue involuntarily. Being cutesy was _so_ not their forte. "You're in too, buddy?" he asked, turning to Grover.

Grover smiled meekly. "Of course. Hey Chiron, can we go pack? I want to make sure I take everything I need."

"Go ahead," Chiron said, nodding. He opened his mouth to speak, closed it, and then opened it once more. "I'll talk to the three of you later, about the… other thing."

Luke's expression turned grim, and he nodded. Annabeth and Grover followed suit. Percy felt confused, but decided that it didn't concern him. He was too worn out to worry over things in which he wasn't involved.

"Goodnight," Chiron said, waving them out. Mr. D gave a reluctant wave, as well.

Annabeth smiled, as soon as they were outside. "Oh, wow. Percy, I'm sorry, I know your life is in danger and everything, I've just never been on a quest before!" She looked the happiest he'd seen her yet.

"Sucks to be me," Percy said lamely.

A/N: As I think I've said before, here's where I start straying further from the events of the book. The plot of their quest is going to differ majorly from that in the books. Thanks for reading, reviews are appreciated!


	11. Six in the Morning

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, you guys are awesome!

When Percy awoke, it was with the irritated knowledge that he should still be asleep. He finally cracked his eyelids open, only to find that Annabeth and Grover were in his room.

"What are you doing?" he mumbled, as angrily as he could at such an early hour.

"We have to go," Annabeth replied, her voice brisk. "We have a lot to do."

Percy caught a glimpse of his alarm clock. "It's six o'clock!"

Grover nodded. "Sorry. Annabeth's right, though. We have lots to do."

Percy pulled the covers over his head, sufficiently annoyed at the lack of information. Sure, they'd wake him up at ungodly hours and tell him they had 'stuff' to do, but no one would bother giving him the plan. It seemed a bit unfair, and he felt fully justified in closing his eyes again.

"Percy," Annabeth scolded. "Come on. You wanted this quest, you have to wake up early."

He wanted to remind her that he didn't _'want'_ anything, but all he could do was mumble sleepily.

"Guess you're not a morning person, huh?" Grover asked.

Had he been more awake, Percy would have come up with something snappy to say in response. With morning came an extremely low tolerance for cheerful behavior.

"Come on," Annabeth repeated. She looked so fresh and awake that it almost aggravated Percy. How dare people be fully alert at such a ridiculous hour?

At last, unable to take their expectant stares, he sat up. He rubbed at his hair, slightly embarrassed by his despicable bed head. Whatever, though. They'd asked for it.

"Alright," he said, hiding a yawn behind his hand. "Just give me like an hour or something, and I can shower and meet you downstairs."

"An hour?" Grover looked confused. "No, Percy, we've got to go now. We still have to fill out paperwork at the intern building."

"And say goodbye to Luke," Annabeth put it.

Percy openly rolled his eyes, shooting the two of them a glare. "I thought Chiron said that we were staying for breakfast."

"Can't," Grover replied, "Too much commotion. We'll explain later."

"Whatevs," Percy said. He reserved this infuriating attempt at slang for particularly deserving situations; this was one of those times. "I'm tired. After breakfast, I'll wake up."

"No," Annabeth said, giving him a good shake on the shoulder. "Get dressed now. We can get coffee on the road."

Percy wrinkled his nose. Rachel liked coffee; he personally had never found the appeal.

"Percy!" she was shouting, fully fed up with him.

"Okay, okay," Percy replied. He was still a bit too groggy to register everything, but he had the sneaking suspicion they were getting pissed. He could be very uncooperative when he wanted to be.

After ten minutes and colossal amounts of prodding, Percy found himself downstairs. Annabeth had forbid him from showering, and so Percy had forgone it, along with his vanity, and merely pulled a sweatshirt over his head.

"You _did_ pack, right?" she asked, hands on her hips.

"Yup," Percy replied. He swung a duffel bag over his shoulder. "It might shock you, but I'm not totally inept."

She only smirked, and he clenched his fists. There was no way that the three of them could survive together; there was really no way.

"This way," Annabeth instructed, without looking at him. She was walking towards the terrifying stone building that stood on the edge of campus. Percy couldn't help but think that it looked like the place where people had gotten beheaded.

"Welcome to the Intern's office," a guy at the front desk said. "Oh, hey Annabeth. Hi Grover." He grinned. "Wait, did you guys get a quest?"

"Hi Beckendorf," Annabeth replied, smiling in return. "Yeah, we did."

"Congrats," he replied, "I knew you're day would come."

She blushed, her shoulder muscles tensing. "Yeah, well."

Grover casually stepped forward, putting an arm around her. "Listen, do you have the forms? Chiron wanted us to hurry."

"Oh, yeah. Sure, man." He glanced at Annabeth again, and then seemed to notice Percy in the back. "Hey."

"Hi," Percy replied, waving. "I'm Percy Jackson."

"I've heard," Beckendorf remarked, his eyebrows shifting up his forehead. "You made quite an impression on my girlfriend."

"Your girlfriend?" Percy felt a sinking sensation in his gut.

"Yeah, Silena," he looked up, frowning. "You made out with her, right?" He sounded interested, rather than upset, and Percy was unsure what to say.

"Um… I'm sorry," he said, "I had no idea –"

"No, no," Beckendorf interrupted, "It's fine. She's got some problems with monogamy." He shrugged. "Not your problem. Anyway, here's your form."

Percy took the sheet from him nervously. It seemed too easy, how he'd accepted it. In his brief time at Camp Half Blood, Percy had learned one unfailing truth about demigods. They held grudges.

He looked over the questions on the form. It was mostly questions about his childhood, and his DNA. There were a couple about grades and health. He filled them out quickly, doing his best with the spelling. He hoped that no one would read it and laugh.

"Here," he said, sliding it back on the desk. He glanced over nervously, finding that he was the last to finish. "Sorry," he muttered. Grover shrugged, patting his shoulder, and Annabeth evidently didn't hear him.

"Bye guys," Beckendorf said, smiling brightly. "Have fun." It sounded an odd parting line for a dangerous quest, but they all smiled back.

"Uh… are these things supposed to be fun?" Percy asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Depends," Grover answered.

"No," Annabeth said.

Percy looked between the two of them, uncertain. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to be more worried.

"So listen," Annabeth said, "They're out of rentals, and seeing that Grover killed my car, we're kind of going to take Luke's."

"What is with this place and stealing people's cars?" Percy asked. It kind of amused him, although he didn't really like the idea of being the blonde guy's enemy. He didn't seem like somebody you wanted to be against."

"We're not stealing," Annabeth said, icily. "He's my boyfriend. We're just not going to tell him that we're taking it."

Percy held up his hands in surrender. "Yeah, okay. I wasn't judging or anything."

"And there he is!" Annabeth's cool expression turned into a sickening one, full of sap and giddiness. She teetered towards him, gracefully slipping her arms around his neck. They kissed passionately, and Percy averted his eyes. He felt a bit better, noticing that Grover was doing the same.

"I'll see you in a little while, "Annabeth said. She looked almost on the verge of tears, and Percy felt a little annoyed. Unless they died or something, he wasn't under the impression that they'd be gone all that long.

"Right," he whispered, kissing her on the tip of her nose. "Love you."

Her smile melted all over her face, and she seemed to soar off the ground. "I love you too."

Percy wanted to ask why she acted to _below _him or something, but he didn't. "Are we going?" he asked. This time it was his turn to pester her.

"Yeah," she murmured, barely audibly. "Bye." She and Luke continued to stare at one another, and it was a significant amount of time later that they managed to drag her away.

"Car hijacking time?" Percy asked, grinning with in excitement.

Annabeth stormed ahead of him, evidently angry. Both guys flinched as she wrenched open the car door with surprising force. "Get in, Seaweed Brain."

Percy laughed. "That's something twelve year-olds say."

A/N: Thanks a lot for reading! Reviews would make me incredibly happy, so please leave them!

: )

-Abbie


	12. Coffee Break

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter! You guys are amazing; you make my day! Anyway, enjoy the update and happy summer!

Percy took a grudging sip from his coffee cup and nearly spit it out. Yup, it was just as bitter and disgusting as he remembered. Figured.

"How can you like this?" Percy asked, furiously wiping his mouth out with his tongue.

"Not the point," Annabeth muttered, shaking her head. "Caffeine keeps you alert." She eyed him. "You could use some of that."

"Well, I love it," Grover said, enthusiastically. He took a swig and grinned broadly, relishing in the taste. "It's great."

"Alright, then," Percy said, "So the two of you can keep watch, and I'll crash in the car."

"No," Annabeth replied firmly. "We need you awake. If you fall asleep, you'll get groggy."

"That's because somebody woke me up before dawn," Percy muttered, taking another regretful swallow of the coffee. It got slightly better with every drop, he decided.

"So, what is it we're supposed to do, anyway?" Percy asked. "After visiting Hades."

Annabeth slammed him against the brick wall, her soft features warped with fury. "Idiot! You don't talk about that in public."

"I was curious," Percy replied, indignantly. "No one's told me anything."

"Later," Grover said. Even he sounded stern, and so Percy quieted down. He grabbed a couple of coffee stirs for entertainment.

"What are you doing?" Annabeth asked, suspiciously watching him bend the crap out of the sticks.

"No idea," Percy said, snapping one of them in half. "Being stupid. Come on, let's go." He glanced at Grover, who nodded.

"Okay. You guys want to get something for the road?"

"Blueberry scone," Percy said, biting back laughter and holding up the bag. In his drowsy-and-coffee-filled mind, the word 'scone' was just hilarious.

"Right," Grover replied. "Annabeth?"

She made a face, peering over at the calorie signs. "Um, maybe I'll get a bagel. One sec." She went over to the back of the line.

"This place is crowded," Percy said. He yawned. "I shouldn't be surprised, though. New York's always like this."

"Really?" Grover asked dreamily. "I've always loved New York."

"It's great, man," Percy said, nodding. "I've got my complaints and all, but I love it there."

"Okay," Annabeth said, coming over. "Let's go."

"Thank God," Percy said, "Sitting down!"

"You mean gods," Annabeth corrected.

"Whatever." He knew that squabbling _could_ be sexy and suave, but he really wasn't in the mood. He was about as purely pissy as he ever got, and it didn't mesh so well with the sunshine. "So, answer my question. What are we doing?"

"California," Annabeth said. She slid into the driver's seat, taking grip of the wheel. "Remember?"

They'd agreed to switch the position of shotgun, and now it was Grover's turn. Percy fell face first into the backseat, thus splattering coffee against his shorts. "Yeah, sure," he said. "But what about after that? Are we… like gonna steal it?"

"No," they answered in unison. "Are you crazy?" Annabeth asked. "We'd _never_ get away with it."

"Besides," Grover said, "Then we could get it trouble."

"Okay…" Percy said. "Then what? How do we get it back and all?"

"We negotiate," Annabeth replied. With that, she turned the key in the ignition and they drove off.

"What should I expect?" Percy asked. "I mean, to happen. Do we just… drive?"

"Pretty much," Annabeth said, sighing. "I have some money. We can stay in a hotel at night, maybe."

Percy was surprised. This wasn't what he'd expected. "Really?" he asked. "That's it?"

"More or less," Grover said. It sounded as if they were being evasive, but Percy didn't feel like prodding at them. Maybe he didn't want to know.

Despite Annabeth's forbidding, Percy soon drifted off. It was nice, too. When asleep, he couldn't feel the moist spot where he'd spilled the coffee. It was more uncomfortable that you'd think.

He was awoken to a shrill scream. Then cursing, cracking and another scream. His eyes opened most reluctantly, knowing he'd probably be cut short of stretching time.

Outside their car was a monster. This, in it of itself, was fairly terrifying. However, it took a moment for Percy to realize what the other sounds had been. There was a neat crack, down the diagonal of the front window. From what he'd seen, cars and monsters didn't seem to get along too well.

"Maybe you shouldn't have taken your boyfriend's car," Percy piped up.

"Shut up!" Annabeth shouted, rounding on him. One hand was on her wheel, the other in her pocket. Her blonde hair was frizzy, her face was red. Percy had never seen her so scared.

"Whoa, calm down," he said, holding up a hand. "It's not like it can get at us, right? Drive at it."

Nobody reacted, and so Percy leaned forward. He put an inexperienced foot on the gas pedal, and slammed it. He'd never gotten his license, as they'd never owned a car, but he understood the gist of driving. It seemed to work, too. They reeled forward, running right into the monster's chest. There was a beat – and then it burst into little particles of light.

"That was –" Annabeth panted, wiping sweat from her forehead. "How'd you think to do that?"

"Uh, instinct?" Percy said, sheepishly. He'd seen stuff like it before, in movies and things.

"Thanks Percy," Grover said. "'You saved us."

"No big deal," Percy said, grinning. "Um, they're going to be more, right? Monsters?" He was met with silence. "That's what I should expect?"

"Probably," Annabeth said quietly. "This is a dangerous quest, and you're a dangerous guy."

"Dangerous?" Percy laughed, and slicked a hand over his hair. He and Rachel had made fun of those guys.

"In the literal sense," Annabeth said. She had an odd expression on her face. She was smiling, sort of, but her eyes looked pained. "You're a child of the big three. We haven't one since Thalia." She quieted down, staring at the floor of the car. Grover took her hand.

"Yeah, who's this Thalia person? She's the one who almost dated Grover, right?"

"What'd you tell him?" Annabeth said, frowning at Grover.

He winced, not letting go of her hand. "I – I wasn't sure what to say." He blinked quickly, staring out the window.

"It's okay," Percy interrupted, "You guys don't have to tell me."

"No, it's okay," Annabeth said. "After what you just did for us, I should. You should know the whole story." She cleared her throat, letting go of Grover and turning to Percy.

"Thalia was our friend. One of my _best_ friends," she said. She shook her head. "But anyway, she was a daughter of Zeus. A daughter of the Big Three."

"Oh good," Percy joked, "I thought I was the only one."

A look from Annabeth shut him up. "And – and she got killed," Annabeth said, shakily. "By the minotaur. And then Zeus, he turned her into the tree on campus."

Percy's mouth dropped. "The tree?" He wondered what it said for his compassion that this was the part of the story that interested him most.

"Yes," Annabeth said.

"The minotaur," Percy said. "I fought him too."

"I know," Annabeth replied.

"So wait – you think I'm going to die too?" he was serious now, all eyes on her. He knew she'd be honest with him.

"I don't know."

They nearly drowned in the following silence. Percy bobbed his head up and down, for something to do. He hadn't feared for his life really, not yet. Even with the Minotaur, it had all seemed so _unreal_. He wasn't sure what to think.

"Grover," Annabeth said, after a minute. "You okay?" she rubbed a hand across his back.

"Fine," he said, wiping his eyes and turning back. "Yeah, fine. Do we want to keep driving? Maybe we can make it to DC by nighttime."

"DC?" Percy asked. "I thought we were going to California."

"We are," Annabeth said, "But not in one night Seaweed Brain. We've got to stay somewhere."

"Whatever," Percy said. An idea occurred to him, and he brightened. "Oh, can we listen to the radio?"

For once, Annabeth obliged him and pressed the on button. They continued down the road, the Green Day song 'Viva la Gloria' pounding in their ears. Despite the sudden danger and coffee-spill, Percy smiled. Music. For once he felt like he was back at home.

A/N: Dedicated to Savannah (ShadowPalace). After all the little… drama today, thanks for being awesome and writing with me all day! Just so everyone who reads our stuff knows, we kind of wrote a lot today. As in, expect updates from everything of ours. No joke. Anyways, thanks for reading and please, please review!


	13. Stress

A/N: Thanks to the people who reviewed last chapter! I just want to quickly say, that I've noticed a decline in reviews. It's not that I'm begging for them or anything, because I know that's immature, but I just want to make sure that people still like the story. So please let me know your thoughts, just so I make sure I'm doing okay with this. Thanks! Enjoy reading!

"I'm tired," Percy said bluntly, rubbing at his eyelids.

"Oh, be quiet. You weren't driving," Annabeth said. She also looked exhausted, although she would have been a hypocrite if she' d complained.

Only Grover seemed fully awake. He'd been a bit subdued ever since Thalia's story, and was now sitting in the lobby of the hotel, eyeing a coke can with certain hunger.

"Next?" The woman at the counter said pleasantly.

"Stay here," Annabeth muttered, "I'll do this."

"Fine then," Percy said, with a sigh. "Does she annoy you ever?" he asked, turning to Grover.

Grover shrugged. "Not really. She's Annabeth."

"My point," Percy murmured, fairly inaudibly. He rubbed at his head, a habit he was beginning to adopt. "Can we at least have dinner, at some time tonight?"

Grover's eyes moved back to the soda can. "Sure…"

"_What?"_

The guys' heads swiveled fairly identically, moving in the direction of Annabeth. Her mouth was shaped in distinct expression of horror.

"One room? Are you sure?"

"Yes, ma'am," the woman replied. "I'm sorry. Two queen-sized beds."

Annabeth groaned silently, tilting her head back. "Okay… we'll take that I guess."

She didn't say a word to Grover or Percy, as they rode the elevator up to their single room. Grover still looked vaguely upset, and Percy was flipping blandly through a hotel brochure. Annabeth folded her arms, glaring at each of them in turn.

"What?" Percy said, glancing up at her. "This isn't _our_ fault."

She clenched her teeth, her mood not improving. "You two are sharing. _Obviously_."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Besides, I'm going down to the hotel lounge." He tapped the pamphlet in his hands. "It says they have an open bar and buffet."

"Open bar?" Annabeth asked. "Aren't you seventeen?"

"Yeah," Percy said, his mood obviously deflating. "But come on! Just one! We're three teens alone in a hotel! Going to fight the King of the Underworld!"

"You really need to shut up about that," Annabeth said. "And we're not 'fighting' anyone."

"Whatever," Percy replied, "You know what I mean. So can I have one drink?"

Annabeth laughed. "I'm not your mom, do whatever you want."

"Awesome."

"But I really think it's a bad idea," she warned, eyes fiery.

"Why? You just said you weren't my mom."

"I know…" she paused, "But if your inebriated you can't be as alert. And for your first drink, you might not hold your alcohol too well."

"Fine," Percy muttered, looking grumpy. "I won't, I won't." He grinned. "What about you, Grover? Have you ever had alcohol?"

"No," Grover said. "I'm a Satyr. It doesn't have the same effect."

"Right," Percy replied. "Forgot about that. Wait, seriously though. Let's go to the lounge."

"Why?" Annabeth said, wrinkling her nose. "It's all low quality appetizers and losers who actually go to hotel lounges."

"Like me!" Percy answered her, proudly. He laughed. "C'mon, you've got to admit that was witty."

"No," Annabeth said flatly. "Not in the slightest." She sighed. "Anyway, I'm exhausted. I'm going to sleep."

"Yeah, well I'm exhausted too," Percy replied. "But I also want to eat." He put a finger out, wagging it up and down. "It's a tricky thing."

"Shut up," Annabeth moaned.

"What?" Percy asked. "What'd I do? Why are you grouchy?"

"I'm not," Annabeth replied, her eyes shut. "I'm just a little… frustrated. I need sleep."

"Well, I'm going to the lounge."

"You've said that."

"I know. I'll say it again. I'll go without you, I will."

"Oh my gods, Percy, I swear to Zeus…"

"Guys," Grover said, timidly. "Hate to interject, but the doors opened a couple of minutes ago."

Percy and Annabeth blinked. "Oops, sorry Buddy," Percy said, clapping him on the shoulder.

Annabeth took out the hotel key, refusing to give the extras to the guys, and opened the door. It was a pathetic little room with, as promised, two queen sized beds.

"I'm changing in the bathroom and then sleeping. Either go away or turn off the light." She dumped her duffle bag on the bed, and disappeared without another word.

"Lounge?" Percy asked Grover, quirking his eyebrows hopefully. He wasn't sure what about the hotel gave him confidence, but all of a sudden he wanted to be a grown up. Drinks. Girls. Hey, in a world where people could be children of gods, who says that that _couldn't_ be adulthood?

Grover shrugged. "Aw, I don't know Percy. It's late, right? And we want to leave early."

"Yeah, but this will be fun. A nice way to de-stress. Please?" Percy coaxed.

"Okay… for a little while." He still looked depressed, though, and Percy felt badly.

"Hey, Percy…"

"Yeah?"

"Since when are you such a party guy? At camp you were always worried about these things."

"I don't know,,," Percy answered honestly. "Maybe the anxiety's making me nuts. Or maybe I'm naturally this way, and the only way for me to find out is to be sitting in a hotel with a horse and a… different kind of animal."

"Percy!"

"Satyr, right, sorry."

"Not what I meant," Grover said, eyeing him. "You know, you could just be nicer to her. She's not that bad, really. And she's been through a lot."

"So? I have too. My mom died, and I discovered my father lives in the clouds."

"Percy!"

"Right, sorry, water. Hey, are you going to be yelling at me all night?"

"No, I'm sorry." Grover's shoulders slumped. "I'm not usually like this. I guess I'm just… I don't know."

"Yeah," Percy said, more seriously. "I get it." He exhaled with energy. "Here it is. Want to go in?"

"Sure," Grover muttered. "I can't eat, and I won't find any girls who I can ever be with, but why not?"

Percy threw his head back and laughed. "Don't do sarcasm, man. It really doesn't work for you."

"Sorry," Grover replied.

"Don't apologize for everything, either. You're too much of a people pleaser."

"I am?"

Percy nodded. "You're really nice, but I feel like you care too much about making everyone happy."

"Percy…"

"Yeah?"

"We're friends, right?"

"Of course!"

"Oh, cool. Okay. Just checking."

"Hey look, pigs in blankets!"

"Yeah, you have fun eating," Grover mumbled. "I'll just sit… and not do anything else."

"Great!" Percy replied, perfectly genuinely. He shoveled several pigs in blankets onto a napkin, tossing them one by one into his mouth. "What?" he asked, to no one in particular. "I'm starved!"

"We had lunch at noon."

"Yeah, but the stress and the driving was making me tired."

"The driving? You weren't driving."

"I know, but I was moving. It burns calories."

"But you weren't… never mind."

"Mind if I sit here?" She was all legs, and had a mass of coco-brown hair.

"Sure thing," Percy replied, hopping up.

Grover slammed a hand against his face.

A/N: That's it for now. Please, please, please, please review! I apologize for the extensive asking, but I just want to make sure that this story still has an audience.


	14. Underage

A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I really appreciate it!

"Thanks," the women said. To Grover, it sounded as if she were merely speaking quietly, but the sound met Percy's ears as something of great seduction.

"Oh… heh, no problem… I'm just here with my friend, Grover –"

"Hey Percy, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"What?" Percy said, looking disappointed. "Right now?"

"It will only take a second."

"Fine," he grumbled, standing up. "Sorry –"

"Oh, Megan," the girl replied.

"Megan," Percy repeated, "I'll be back in a minute."

"What are you doing?" Grover exploded, once they were out of earshot. He sounded desperate, rather than angry.

"Just trying to socialize," Percy said. "If I'm going to be in college, I should probably learn how, right?"

This softened Grover, and he smiled. "I guess so. But you have to be really careful, okay? Lots of times monsters disguise themselves as hot teens."

"Why the hell is that?" Percy asked, sounding miffed.

Grover sighed. "Because of guys like you. Oh, and Percy, we generally like to say 'Hades'." Percy rolled his eyes.

"Can I go back to her now?" he asked.

"Sure, but watch her every move."

"No probs," Percy replied, moving his eyebrows up and down.

"And be back in fifteen minutes."

"What?" Percy said, rather more loudly than he'd intended. "That doesn't give me time to score!"

"Yeah… you really shouldn't be trying to 'score' on a quest."

"Why not?"

"The gods might find it offensive. Or Chiron might. It could get you killed. It could get you distracted, and then get us all ki-"

"Mkay, I get it," Percy interrupted. "Never mind. I've only ever made out with one girl anyway." He shrugged, embarrassed.

"Who? Silena?"

"Wow, gossip travels fast around camp."

"Yeah. It really does." He sighed, still giving his pleasant Grover-grin. "See you in fifteen minutes?"

"Okay," Percy agreed grudgingly. He waited until Grover was gone to slide back onto the sofa.

"Sorry that took so long," he said, echoing the script of a really bad romance movie he'd seen.

"That's okay," she said. "Gave me time to finish my drink." She wiggled it, smiling slyly. "Care to buy me another?"

"You bet," Percy said. He attempted to stand with absolute grace, but ended up tripping over his untied shoelaces. He flushed, caught of guard. "Be right back."

"Another one of, uh, these, please." He held the drink out to the bartender.

"Are you of age, son?"

"What? Oh, no, this isn't for me."

The bartender folded his arms, evidently having heard this a hundred times. "Oh yeah? Who's it for, then?"

"Her," Percy replied, pointing at Megan. She gave him a confused look, as if to ask what was going on. Percy waved it off with his hand.

"Son," the bartender laughed. "You must think I was born yesterday. You're not the first underage kid to try this."

"I'm not underage!" Percy shouted, before he could think.

"Let me see your id."

"It's… it's in my room. My friend's asleep, I don't want to wake her up."

"Her? What are you doing, down here buying people drinks, when you've got a girl upstairs?"

Percy gaped, unsure which was the more disturbing implication. That Annabeth should be considered a 'girl' in definitive terms, or that he was cheating on his girlfriend. "No, no," he said hurriedly. "She's not my girlfriend! We're just taking a vacation from college."

"You? College?" He smirked. "I'm sorry boy, you look way too young."

Percy stood very still, feeling steam compressing behind his cheekbones.

"Is there a problem?" Megan asked, coming up behind them. "This guys was just going to buy me a drink…"

" 'This guy' should not be buying anyone drinks," the bartender replied. "And if I see him making trouble again, he's going to get himself and his _girl_ friend thrown right out of this hotel."

"She's not my girlfriend," Percy protested quickly, turning to Megan. "Only a girl, who's you know, a friend, I guess. You can't really call her a girl, even."

"Whatever," Megan muttered, under her breath. "Nice of you try, kiddo." She stalked off, unfilled drink in hand.

Percy closed his eyes, relishing in the bitter defeat. You knew it was bad when a girl called you kiddo.

"Good night, son," the bartender said. "Go back to high school."

"You know, sometimes I really wish I could," Percy replied. He turned, heading for the elevator. At least they weren't monsters, he consoled himself.

"What happened?" Grover asked. He was slouched against the hallway wall, eyes slit with exhaustion

"Oh, not much," Percy replied. "I got threatened about getting kicked out of the hotel. Nothing major."

"Percy!"

"Sorry, sorry," Percy said. "How was I supposed to know that the first thing she'd ask me to do was buy her a drink?"

"You could have said no."

"Eh, not really."

"Sure you could have."

"Yeah, but then I come off as a loser kid anyway. It was better that I tried and struck out."

"Not so much, if it gets us in trouble."

"Don't worry, it's not like he knows who you two are. Besides, he was only the bartender." Percy paused, surveying the cream-colored hall. "What are you doing out here, anyway?"

"I can't get in."

Percy laughed, quite humorlessly. If he wasn't going to be kissing, he wanted to go to sleep. "What the Hades does that mean?" He grinned, proud of himself. "See, I used Hades."

"Very nice… um, Annabeth's asleep or something. At least, she won't open the door."

"What?" Percy asked. "What about your key?"

"She wouldn't give them to us, remember?"

"Right. Well, that was dumb. Hey, I wasn't the dumbest one, tonight!"

"You might be," Grover said, smiling sympathetically. "She was probably was afraid you'd go and lose it, or I don't know, give it to someone."

Percy's face fell. "Oh. Oh well, she's probably right."

"How do you accept something like that so easily, but then get mad when she's just… her."

Percy shrugged. "I really don't know. Probably because it's her that bothers me more than anything else. So, wait, have you tried banging on the door?"

"Not really," Grover admitted. "I knocked for a while."

"Oh. Here, let's try this." He prodded Grover out of the way with his foot, and proceeded to slam it into the door.

"Percy!" Grover shouted. "You'll wake the whole floor up!"

"Kind of the point, right?"

"Who's there?" Annabeth shouted, from somewhere inside. There was a moment's pause, as Percy prepared to shout back their names, and then the door burst open.

"Ow! Shit, Annabeth."

"Oops, sorry." She had opened the door, knife brandished, and slammed it right into Percy's thumb.

He licked the blood delicately from his hand, glaring at her. "You couldn't have looked through the peep hole?"

"I'm half asleep," she retorted, frowning. "Where were the two of you?"

"In the lounge," Grover answered.

"Getting food," Percy said quickly, giving Grover a meaningful look.

"Well, get inside. We leave first thing."

Percy leaned back his head, turning sullenly to Grover. "So not my night."

A/N: I hope you liked it! Happy DC sight seeing for the next chapter! Would anyone care if I wrote the political administration to be the one from West Wing? Not like a crossover exactly… just, mentions. I don't know if anyone watches the show, but you should if you don't. It's amazing. Anyway, thanks for reading, review if you liked the chapter!


	15. Breakfast Battles

A/N: The DC sight seeing is actually going to be mostly in the next chapter, as this is breakfast and stuff. Sorry! Anyway, hope you guys like the update! : ) Oh, and this chapter is dedicated to Jordan, both for being thoroughly awesome and for finishing Enchanted Inc.

"There's a train."

Percy opened his eyes, squinting in confusion at his surroundings. Ah right, the hotel. He turned his neck, facing Annabeth with annoyance.

"What?" he asked her, groggily.

"A train. At five, tonight. I think we should take it."

"Uh…" Percy replied, placing his face back against his pillow. He didn't feel like going fifty rounds on logic and convenience.

"I mean, we'd leave the car," Annabeth said. "And that could be bad, because anything could happen to it. But a train will get us there faster."

"Right," Percy muttered. "Well, that's nice. Um, where's Grover?" He forced himself into a sitting position, rubbing his sleep-deprived eyes. They'd gotten about five hours, at most.

"He's showering," Annabeth answered. "You're next, if you want to. Then we have to grab breakfast and leave. Although," Percy rolled his eyes, hearing her breath rise in the way it did when she debated things. "If we take the train, we can spend a couple of hours strategizing. I mean, we've been taking the Hades part kind of simply, but it's actually very difficult."

She glanced at him, chewing her lip in thought. "What do you think?"

"Me?" Percy asked, surprised. It was the first time that she had asked for his opinion on anything. "I think that we should go back to sleep."

She slammed her pen against the desk, looking annoyed. "Oh, you're no help." Percy had a feeling that she wouldn't be asking for his opinion again.

"Wait," Percy said. "No, I have a real idea. How about we go around DC and stuff?"

Annabeth's eyes lit up. "Maybe. I – I have always wanted to see the Lincoln memorial…"

"And the museums," Percy added, knowing she would like those too. He didn't bother saying that _his _favorite parts were the gift shops

"Yeah..." Annabeth sounded almost dazed, as if she was imagining it all. "Okay. We'll take the train, I guess. Thanks Percy."

"No problem," he replied, shimmying his legs out of the sheets. "Is Grover almost done in there?"

She shrugged, busy with some books on the bed. "You'd have to check."

"Alright, I'm up," Percy said, sighing. He staggered to the floor, sleepily making his way to the bathroom. "Hey Grover," he called, knocking on the door. "You almost done?"

"Yeah," Grover called back. "One second."

Percy slid to the floor, slouching with exhaustion. He felt like they'd been on the road for ages, even though it had only been one night. "So," he said, yawning, "How long do these quest things generally take?"

"It depends," Annabeth replied.

"And we're going down to Hades, right?"

"Mmhm, that's the plan."

"Okay, cool."

"Cool?" She looked up, evidently concerned.

"Well," Percy hesitated. "You know, dead people…" He shrugged. Annabeth made an exasperated expression, passing off his idiotic comment as merely idiotic.

Grover opened the door then, his curly hair smelling of coconuts. "They have really cool shampoo in there! I left a bottle for you by the sink, Percy."

"Thanks, man," Percy said, trying not to laugh. "I'll make sure to use it."

An hour later, they had finally mapped out a plan for the day. They were going to go to two museums and the Lincoln memorial, and then plan on catching the train at five. It would take them west, where they would have to worry about getting from Kansas to California. It didn't seem too bad, although Percy knew that the train ride would probably be horrendous.

"Breakfast!" Percy yelled, ravenously hungry. "Where are we going to go?"

"A restaurant," Annabeth deadpanned. "Or we could eat here."

"Bad idea," Grover said. "Percy got himself something of a bad reputation with the bartender."

"Bartender," Annabeth muttered, looking a tad on the furious sigh. "I don't know why I even let you off by yourself, at all."

"Yeah," Percy said, in all seriousness. "Big mistake."

She pursed her lips, thrusting the door open. "Let's go."

Breakfast was uneventful. Percy downed four glasses of orange juice, all the while Annabeth glared at him in disgust.

"Boys," she murmured, when Grover started choking on his sausage.

"Are you almost ready?" she asked, after the waitress had done the Heimlich maneuver of Grover.

He nodded, rubbing at his bruised throat. "Yeah. Sorry guys."

"No big," Percy replied. "Want a Danish?"

Grover shook his head. "I think I'm going to go easy on the pipes for a while." As if struck by something, his spine straightened momentarily. "Uh oh. Monster."

"You've got to be kidding me," Annabeth said, sounding more annoyed than anything else. She drew her knife. "Outside?"

"Yeah," Grover replied, squirming. "I don't like this scent, too much. It smells dangerous."

"I'll take care of it," Annabeth said. "You stay here, keep each other out of trouble."

"Wait, she's going to fight this thing by herself?" Percy asked.

"Yeah," Grover said. "Don't worry Percy, she's a great fighter. Seriously, she's been doing it forever."

Percy looked uncomfortable. "We can't just let her go by herself, though. That's not right." Before Grover could object, he quickly stepped outside of the diner.

He gaped a moment, eyes locked on the huge unidentifiable thing that he supposed was a monster. Then, he spotted Annabeth. She was fighting, all right, swishing at the thing with her blade. Still, it looked like the battle was too much for one person.

He charged forward, grabbing the pen from his pocket. A small gasp escaped Percy's lips as it transformed, morphing into Ripred before his very eyes. He swung it in the air, using all his practice from college, and it hit the monster in the gut. It disintegrated, dissolving into light and dust.

"Thanks," Annabeth said, sounding slightly awed. "Wow. I didn't know you could… fight."

"Yeah," Percy said, grinning. "Me neither."

She smiled, sticking out a hand for him to shake. "Okay, I guess I owe you. Where do you want to go first?"

Percy grinned toothily, recognizing a chance for triumph. "Air and Space gift shop!"

A/N: That's it for now! I know it was kind of filler, but I needed to have a moment where Annabeth recognizes that Percy can fight. : ) Please review!


	16. Disaster at Every Turn

A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter! You guys are awesome, I really appreciate the feedback! Just so you guys know, here is where I'm really going to start to veer away from the books in plotline. There's going to be the same result, more or less, but not exactly. Percy's age is going to be super important. You'll see! On with the chapter!

Truth be told, Annabeth didn't really mind the trip to the gift shop. She would never let on, especially to Percy, but she liked the space bears and astronaut fact books as much as anyone.

"At noon we leave," she said, giving them a firm glance. "We can't spend all day here."

"Yeah, yeah," Percy said, shrugging. "Whatever. Don't you want to see the rest of the museum, though?"

Annabeth fumbled with herself. She did of course, but she also wanted to see the Lincoln memorial. "Yes, but don't have time," she said, sighing. "Not if we want to get to the train on time. Besides, we're going to the Lincoln memorial."

"From twelve to five?"

"We're getting to the train three hours early."

"What? That's insane!"

Annabeth only shrugged, fingering a space pen in her hand. "I think I'll get this."

"Annabeth, talk to me," Percy continued. "That's crazy. We don't need to get there at two o'clock!"

"No, but we might as well," Annabeth retorted.

"Hey Grover," Percy said, turning to his friend with a grin. "Don't you think that's nutty?"

"Huh?" Grover replied, turning. "Sorry, I wasn't listening."

"She wants to get to the train at two o'clock."

"Better safe than sorry," Grover muttered, distractedly. He seemed to be speaking more to himself.

"Uh… buddy?" Percy asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Are you okay?"

"What? Me? Fine," Grover said, shaking his head like a dog. "Just… checking for monsters is all. I feel like we're being followed."

"Followed? Yeah?" This seemed to catch Percy's interest, although he didn't appear to be scared.

"We probably are," Annabeth announced, looking equally calm. "Don't worry about it, Grover. You've been on quests before, you know how it works." She looked at him suspiciously.

"It's not monsters," Grover whispered, so quietly that the other two couldn't hear him.

"Hey, should I get a pen too?" Percy asked, picking up a green space pen. "I like these things, they're cool."

"Up to you," Annabeth replied, shrugging. She whirled around in delight, relishing in the intellectual goodies.

"Guys," Grover said, more loudly. "We should go. Upstairs, okay? How about we look at the planes or something…" He trailed off, eyes skipping back and forth across the room.

"Grover? Are you sure that you're um, okay?" Annabeth asked. She stepped nearer to him, looking concerned. "What's going on?"

"I sense something…" Grover said. "Half bloods."

"Half bloods?" Annabeth and Percy whispered loudly, in unison.

"Shh… not so loud," Grover said. "But yeah. I – I don't, I don't see them though. I mean, I'm not sure. What if – what if they're responsible for the lightning bolt, though?"

"For stealing it?" Annabeth whispered, horrified. "No… no half blood would turn against the gods. No half blood _could,_"

"It's not unprecedented," Grover replied, shaking his head. "I've got a bad feeling, guys."

"Well, you're the leader Percy, what do you want to do?" Annabeth asked. She looked very serious.

"What…" Percy spluttered, looking as if he'd been smacked with a two-by-four. Why did she defer to him at the worst possible moments? "Well, we don't know what's going to happen, right? And it's possible that nothing will change, no matter where we go. So we might as well stay here, right?" He glanced at the other two for approval.

"Sure," Annabeth said, shrugging.

"You think that's okay, then? We won't get killed?" Percy asked, seeming nervous.

"We might," Annabeth replied. "But like you said, there's no way to be sure. Is that okay, Grover?"

"Yeah…" he said, looking nervous. "Okay. I warned you guys, though."

Percy slapped him on the back. "Yeah. Thanks for that. I'm sure we'll be fine, right?"

"If you say so," Grover replied, knowing that Percy didn't know the first thing about demigod safety.

It was a quarter to one, by the time they actually made their way out of the museum. Annabeth had insisted that they take a stroll by the exhibits, and this had led to a momentary lapse in judgment. They'd forgotten to check the time.

"Do we even have time to go see Lincoln?" she asked, worriedly.

"Annabeth, we have hours," Percy said, sighing in exasperation. "If we go to the train station now, we're going to make ourselves worse targets. Haven't you ever heard that it's bad to stay in the same place for too long?"

"I guess you're right," Annabeth replied. "Okay. But we'll only take a quick look there, okay?"

"Fine," Percy said, nodding. He tried to share an agitated look with Grover, but the Satyr was preoccupied.

They hopped a cab, the three of them squishing into the backseat.

"Aah, Percy, you're sitting on my hand," Annabeth said, wincing.

"Oh sorry," Percy said, switching position. "Sorry," he repeated.

She rubbed her hand, turning away so he wouldn't see her red cheeks. "It's fine."

"Hey," Percy said, grinning impishly. "Do you think you're boyfriend noticed his missing car yet?"

"Shut up," she murmured, doing a couple of neck rolls. "Gods…"

"What?"

"Nothing," she replied, closing her eyes. "I'm trying not to let you bother me."

"Oh. Okay. Good luck," Percy replied cheerfully.

Grover was still silent, probing the other two to grow nervous. He wasn't the _most _extroverted guy in the world, but he was fairly talkative with his friends. He must have been really worried.

"We're here," Percy said flatly, as the cab rolled to a stop.

"Oh my gods…" Grover breathed, pointing frantically out the window. "That's them! The half bloods!"

"Where?" Annabeth asked, at once.

Grover flicked his finger, directing all three pairs of eyes at his discoveries. There was a boy and girl, both young looking. They had dark features: olive skin and black hair. They looked confused, for lack of a better world. The girl's arm was around the boy's shoulders, keeping him in place. She was speaking to him, her youthful face full of worry.

"Hi!" Grover said, thrusting open the door to the cab. He raced out, waving in what Percy was sure was a frightening way.

"Hey, you need to pay for this," the cab driver said. He turned around, glaring at them, and then began to curse in another language.

"Percy," Annabeth said, tugging on his shirt. "Look over there."

Percy turned his head, and sure enough, they were being approached by _several _monsters. He wondered what the Hades the cab driver saw.

"What now?" he asked, flatly.

A/N: That's it for now! I hope you liked it… As I said, that plots going to shift a tiny bit now. There's going to be a similar resolution, though.


	17. Recruitment

A/N: I'm sorry that it's been so long! And yes, Savannah, I am updating : ). I hope you guys like it! Oh yeah, and profanity warning.

"How bad do you think it would be if we just ran for it?" Percy asked. He remained in his seat, looking quite serious.

"Shut up!" Annabeth growled. She sprang forward, withdrawing a knife from her pocket. It looked a little flimsy, compared to the epically proportioned monsters, but hey, it was something. "A little help, please?" She had turned the first two to dust already, but Percy could tell it was straining her. Her face was creased in concentration, and sweat poured from her temple.

"Right," Percy replied, struggling to get up. "Sorry about that. Got distracted for a second. Where do you need me?"

"Over there," she shouted, busy turning another into light particles.

"Gotcha," Percy said, obeying her orders. He was surprisingly agreeable to her commands, when they were under attack and everything.

Meanwhile, the cab driver continued to shout. He was yelling about the damage to his car now too, and seemed on the verge of hysterics. Apparently it was a traffic violation to slaughter sheep in the middle of a street. Okay then, Percy thought, the monsters looked like sheep to the average mortal. He quickly shook his head, trying to clear his mind of its ADD tendencies. Sheep were _so_ not important right now.

"Um, Grover!" he yelled, feeling sort of as if his voice were muffled by a heavy wind. "We could really use you."

The Satyr turned back to them, yelling, "Oops, sorry." He pulled out his pipes then, and began to splutter out a tune.

"Thanks," Annabeth murmured, as the monsters slid back into the ground. She waited until the moment they were all gone, and then promptly collapsed onto the car's totaled front.

"Um, are you okay?" Percy asked, a touch of compassion in his voice.

"Fine," she replied, blocking the heavy sunlight with her hands. However, she made no moves to get up. "Gods, it's hot out here."

Percy jumped down from the cab's hood, panting. "Phew, those were pretty bad, weren't they?"

"No," Annabeth said, sitting up at last. "Those were only average, Percy. If we're going to get this bolt back, you have to be prepared for worse. Much worse."

"Oh. Well, great. That's just great," Percy said. He was resisting the urge to spit the foul, sour taste that had entered his mouth.

"What did you do to my cab?!" the driver wailed, looking terrified.

"Oh, sorry Sir," Percy said. He frowned, hoping to seem apologetic enough. "Um, well you know, the sheep were…" He shrugged helplessly, truly at a less. "I'm not sure, Sir. Sorry."

The driver shook his head, screamed a few more foreign curses, and then drove the debris of his car away.

"Poor guy," Percy muttered. "I feel bad."

"Oh, that's okay," Annabeth said. "See, all of this monster business helps the world a lot. When we kill them, I mean. The mortals don't know it, but we save them a lot of the time."

"Fun," Percy said sarcastically. "Should we um, go see what they're doing?" He was referring to Grover, who seemed to be emphatically encouraging the two kids.

"Yeah," Annabeth said. "Demigods out here… Wow, that's a coincidence."

"What? You think they took the lightning bolt?" Percy asked.

"No," Annabeth said, shrugging. "Not necessarily. Still though, when it comes to our race, coincidences aren't usually coincidences."

"We're our own race?"

"Be quiet."

"Mmm," Percy replied. Then, in a louder voice, "Hi." It came off as a bit grumpy, although he hadn't intended it that way. He walked over to where they stood, clustered. The girl had her arm around the younger boy, and both of them looked rather wary.

"Hello Percy, Annabeth," Grover said, his voice containing a fake, refined quality. "This is Bianca and Nico di Angelo. And this," he gestured dramatically, pointing to his friends, "Is Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, and Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena."

"Cool," Nico breathed, so quietly that only Percy and Bianca heard him.

"I'm sorry," Bianca said firmly, tightening her arm around Nico. "I just – we've been through a lot already, and I can't –" she cut off, shaking her head. "I just can't believe you." She sounded as if she wanted too though, and Percy's sarcastic side dimmed enough to feel sorry for her. He got it, he did.

"Please," Grover said, his eyes wide. "I'm a searcher. That's what I do. I find people like you. Please…"

"Hey," Percy said, stepping in. "Listen, I totally had this moment a couple of months ago, but he knows what he's talking about. I promise."

"He found you too?" Bianca asked. Her eyes were focused on Percy know, evidently seizing him up for the truth.

"Yeah, he found me," Percy said. His heart contracted and expanded painfully, bringing back memories of the last day with his mother. Gods, it seemed like so long ago.

"What – what happened?" Bianca asked.

"He took me to Schola Superum. A school for people… people like us, I guess." Percy cleared his throat. "It's a college, actually."

"Oh. Did – what – how –" she was stuttering, completely at a loss for words.

Percy smiled at both of them, trying to smooth it over. He looked at Nico. "You might be a little young, is my guess." As if in rebuttal, he frowned and shrugged away his sister's arm. A moment later, he pulled it back around him, apparently finding it safer that way.

"He's thirteen," Bianca said. Then, after a few minutes, she glanced back at Percy. "How did you know?" she asked, softly. "I mean, did this guy –"

"Grover," Percy and Grover said in unison.

"Just come and find you?"

"No," Percy said. "My mom told me." He prayed she wouldn't ask for more.

"Oh." She glanced at her brother. "I – we don't remember what happened to our parents."

"I'm sorry," Percy said. "Well, one of them is a god, like Grover said." He grinned tentatively. "So you have half your answer."

She looked back and forth between them, and for the first time Percy noticed that Annabeth was standing to the side, forgotten. "I just, I just don't know," she murmured. "It sounds so crazy."

"I thought so too," Percy said, nodding. "And I mean, it kind of has been. First my mom got killed, and we chased down this crazy Minotaur. And now I'm apparently responsible for stealing Zeus's lightning bolt or whatever, which kind of sucks. We're supposed to be finding it, ya see, but we keep getting chased by monsters. So yeah, it's been great so far."

Bianca made a sad expression when he mentioned his mom, and then gave a polite chuckle at the rest. Nico muttered "Cool" again, and Percy grinned at him, finding a certain affection for the kid. He and Rachel played video games sometimes; he understood how the whole thing could sound glamorous to an outsider.

"Didn't you see those monsters just now?" Percy asked.

"Those were monsters?" Bianca asked. She and her brother wore identical expressions of confused surprise, but Percy could read the slight discrepancies between their emotions. Bianca was scared, and trying not to be, while Nico was somewhere in the realm of excitement. He liked these two, Percy decided.

"Please, will you come with us?" Percy asked. "Come on, you saw the monsters, you know I'm not lying." They still didn't answer, and so he went on. "Listen, if you're anything like me, you'll want answers. And I promise, it might not seem like it, but you'll get them if you come with us. You'll find out who… one of your parents is, I guess."

Nico turned to his sister, his bitter expression expectant. She made the decisions, and he was unhappy about that.

"Okay, we'll come," Bianca said. "We'll come." Nico gave her a hug, and Percy grinned.

"Great!" Grover chimed in. "Let's go visit Lincoln!"

"No," Annabeth said, a little too angrily. "It's too late now. This took up a lot of time. Let's just go to the train station."

"Fine," Grover said, looking disappointed. He chattered at Bianca and Nico a mile a minute, filling them in on all of the wonderful things they would soon experience. As soon as the three were far enough ahead, Annabeth whacked Percy in the arm.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

"Huh? Ow, I'm not sure what you mean." He rubbed his arm, frowning.

"Why the Hades were you acting so… different! So nice and literate and everything!"

"You're mad that I was being nice?"

"No!"

"So you're mad that I'm usually not nice?"

"No! Just, ugh, forget it!" She gave him an extra smack, and promptly stalked off.

A/N: Hope you liked it! Please review, I would really appreciate it if you did!


	18. Snowglobes

A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter! Love you guys! Sorry for the delay in updates; I've been mostly doing one-shots lately. Anyway, thanks for reading!

"You're going to get food poisoning from that," Annabeth said darkly. She jabbed a finger at the rather colorful looking dish that Percy had bought in the food court. He shrugged.

"Why? It tastes good." He licked his sauce-covered fingers, and Annabeth looked away in disgust.

"What is it, even?"

"Not sure," he replied, picking at it with his fork. "I got it over at Train Food Fun."

"Train Food Fun?" she repeated, exaggerating the idiocy of the name. She shook her head. "You two are okay then?"

Bianca and Nico sat side by side, devouring a Hershey chocolate bar. Neither had wanted real dinner, and Annabeth was in far too grouchy a mood to care. Every word she'd spoken since they'd arrived had been brusque and bitter, the sour frown never leaving her face.

"We're fine," Bianca said, speaking for the both of them.

"Bianca? I'm going to go to the bathroom, okay?" Nico said.

"Okay. Give me your ticket, alright? I don't want you to lose it." He complied, rolling his eyes.

"He thinks he's too old to be babied," Bianca said quietly, after he'd gone.

"Well," Percy said, "He's thirteen, right?"

"Yeah, but… it's different. Something about losing our parents, I guess. I've been his mother for his whole life, and he's starting to realize I'm not much older than he is."

"Well, you'll find one of your parents soon," Percy said, a warm compassion to his voice. Annabeth stood up in a huff, stalking away. Whatever she may have denied, Percy's kindness to the di Angelo's had struck a chord in her.

"I'm going to ask what time the train doors open," she announced, more loudly than was necessary. "Can someone make sure Grover comes back?"

"Sure," Percy said. Grover had wandered off some place, only to remain missing for the next two hours. Percy suspected he had gone on a souvenir rampage, but Annabeth had begun to seem worried. He took another bite of his chicken-beef-sauce-thing. "Sure thing."

"Fine. I'll meet you here in a little while." She disappeared, her feet making loud sounds against the linoleum tiles.

"Well, I'm going to throw this out now," Percy said, chuckling softly.

Slowly, Bianca's lips transformed into a smile. With a double take, Percy realized how pretty she was. It was a soft, timid sort of pretty. It didn't suffocate or force its way down one's throat, but it lay their waiting. "I thought you liked it," she said, quietly giggling.

"Huh?" Percy said, distracted by the way her eyes lit up. "Oh, not so much. Yeah. Not really. Just, you know, had to piss off Annabeth."

"Oh," Bianca said, still giggling. "Well, I guess that's a good reason." Her smile faded into an embarrassed line, but her eyes continued to glitter.

"Want to get like, snacks for the train?" Percy asked. "Popcorn and stuff? It's going to be a long ride."

"Popcorn?" She smiled again, and Percy had the distinct impression that he was being mocked. "Um, I should probably wait for my brother. But," she slid a five-dollar bill over to him, "Do you want to get me something?" She blushed. "Sorry. I would come, it's just, I don't want him to wonder where I am."

"That's fine," Percy said, grinning. "I'll get you stuff, don't worry. Oh, and I should probably find Grover too."

Bianca nodded. "Yeah… Is he – is he always so… enthusiastic?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Oh. Well, that's nice," she said slowly, sounding oddly sincere. "Hey, can I just ask a quick question?"

"Go ahead," Percy said.

"Where does this train go?" Bianca asked. "I mean, Grover said something about California, but this is D.C…"

"Actually, I have no idea. Kansas? I think? Annabeth said something about Kansas."

"Kansas?" Her eyes widened. "From D.C? That doesn't sound right… And how are we going to get to California from there?"

Percy shook his head, still smiling. "Honestly, I don't…." he trailed off, changing directions. "Hey, do you want to know a secret?"

"Sure," she said, nearly whispering.

"I'm pretty sure Annabeth doesn't know what she's doing." He turned around, giving a little wave. "Later. I'll be back in a minute, okay?"

"Okay…" Bianca said. She looked a little nervous now, and Percy almost felt badly. He hadn't intended to freak her out.

Percy picked up three water bottles and two bags of corn chips, absent-mindedly handing them to the cashier. His eyes were glued to the concession stands, searching for Grover. Finally, he spotted him over at the snow globe shop.

"Thanks," Percy muttered to the man behind the counter, taking his train snacks. He made his way over to Grover, a brilliant idea striking as he neared the booth. He slipped in right behind his friend, speaking in a deep, menacing voice.

"I know who you and where you live, and I'm going to kill –"

"Aaaah!" Grover screamed, throwing the two globes in his hands up at the ceiling. They shattered, a mixture of confetti and soapy liquid falling to the floor. A miniature building landed on Percy's shoulder.

"Heh, the Parthenon," Percy said, picking it up. "What a coincidence…" his voice got quieter, fading away as all of the surrounding people turned to look at them.

"Percy!" Grover wailed, his cheeks turning a dark scarlet. "What are you doing?"

"Sorry," Percy replied, rubbing the back of his head. "I – I didn't mean to scare you. Just trying to have some fun."

"I thought you were Hades or something!"

"Seriously?" Percy whispered. "Wow, I must be better with the voices than I thought."

"Percy!"

"Sorry," Percy repeated quickly. "Rachel and I used to joke that I should go into cartoon-voicing, cause it was the only thing I was good at."

"Whose Rachel?" Grover asked.

"My best friend," Percy answered, frowning. "Didn't I tell you about her?"

"No," a female voice answered. Annabeth was standing a foot away, arms folded and eyes creased. Fury did not begin to describe the steam gushing from her ears.

Rather than yelling, she fixed Percy with an icy stare. "I will go pay for these," she said, enunciating every syllable to cool perfection. "You find the janitor, borrow his supplies, and clean this up. I swear to the gods, if you make us miss this train - "

"There won't be any more gods to swear to," Percy said, making a thumbs up sign. His pride at his cleverness faded, when Annabeth grabbed his collar.

"Clean – it – up," she hissed. "And Grover?" She rounded on him, still angry but less hateful. "Go and find the di Angelos, okay? Get them on the train."

"Okay," he said meekly, "Sorry about this Annabeth. I didn't –"

"I know," she replied, interrupting him with a hand. "It's all _Percy's _fault."

"Oh wait," Percy said, as Grover began to walk off. "Here's Bianca's water and chips." He gave Grover the bag, causing the tiny Parthenon to fall of his shoulder.

"You know," Annabeth said, still staring him down. "My life got a whole lot worse, ever since you came into it."

"Likewise, my friend," Percy said, patting her shoulder. "Likewise."

She made some sort of sound, a mixture of a groan and some ancient obscenities, and stomped off. Unintentionally, she crushed the Parthenon model beneath her feet.

A/N: That's all for now! I hope you liked it! Reviews w


	19. Constellations

A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter! Many hugs and updates (I hope!). I know I've been saying it a lot lately - but I'm so sorry for the wait. I have high school a bit better under my belt now, so with any luck updates will become more frequent again. And, okay, I hate to be one of 'those' people, but I've descended to begging level: the more reviews, the quicker my update! They really are motivation, you guys, and each one makes me want to write faster. Anyway, thanks for clicking! Please read and review :). Warning: swearing. They're teens; deal with it.

"You should get some sleep," Percy muttered, rubbing his rubbery skin. His whole body felt like wax, stretched from exhaustion.

"So should you," she fired back. Their banter lost some of its charm when spoken in half-hearted whispers, however, and so they left it there. A stalemate. Grover's body curled into the side of the train, lips moving in liquid mutters; the di Angelos sat across the way, Nico's head lolling onto his sister's shoulder. The entire compartment sank unconscious into the plush seats, all asleep except for Percy and Annabeth. Speaking terms taut from their latest argument, they hadn't talked much.

"You look like shit," Percy said bluntly.

"Thanks," Annabeth replied coolly. When she thought he wasn't looking, she slapped a palm across her oily hair; Percy smiled to himself. "You won't be so critical when I stop a monster from killing you in your sleep."

"We could take shifts," Percy suggested.

"And leave you alone with our lives? Not likely," she muttered.

"Hey now," he warned her, cocking an eyebrow, "I can be pretty good, remember?" Annabeth rolled her eyes and forgot him, line of vision lost in the night sky.

"What are you seeing?" he asked. Tone neither bored nor mocking, only casual, it made Annabeth glance back to his face.

"Not much," she replied slowly. "No monsters. Nothing dangerous."

"Oh, okay," he said, sounding disappointed. "So you're not one of those girls who looks for the Dipper?"

A pause fell, accusatory, and Annabeth hesitated. "It's right there," she said at last, jabbing a finger at the foggy glass. "Look."

"Ah." Percy grinned at her, and she glared back. "So you are one of those types."

"I am not a type," Annabeth hissed. "I am a daughter of Athena who isn' t bad with navigation. The stars are just like any map."

"Right, sure," he replied, brushing her off. His neck's skin tingled in the train's cramped air, pleased at the idea of irking her. In the confusing strain of a Quest, finding ways to annoy Annabeth had become a sport.

"You can mock me if you like," she insisted, shaking her head at him. "I didn't do anything funny." But he saw the way she dropped her eyes from the sky.

"I'm sorry," he said, smile folding into a frown. "I didn't mean to..." he gestured up to the Dipper, swinging carelessly against every rooftop. "... You can look if you like."

"It's okay," she replied. "I think I'm going to find the bathroom. Do you promise not to let anything kill anyone?"

"Cross my heart and hope to... not die," Percy answered, a bit too loudly. A woman awoke to rudely shush him.

"This is serious," Annabeth insisted, though it did nothing to remove the smile from his face. "Come and get me if anything happens, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Percy said. "Any monsters interrupt, and I swear the first place I'll go is the girl's bathroom."

She rolled her eyes, and sneered at him. "I guess it's your own life."

When she'd gone, Percy took to staring into space. He tried to read the train's destination sign, but the letters got all messed up from his dyslexia. Frustrated, he turned his attention to the di Angelos. Their story didn't feel right to him, not really, but he figured he didn't know enough to judge. Besides, they both acted like sweet kids, right?

About two moments later, Annabeth raced back. Every inch of her stood straight with static electricity, and she knelt over her carry on bag. "Oh shit, oh shit..." she muttered, tearing through it. "Where's...? No, no, no," she muttered.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Percy's eyes narrowed, genuinely concerned.

"I can't..." she bit her lip, shaking her head frantically, "My wallet's in my suitcase," she said. Their suitcases were in a storage compartment; much like in an airplane, they'd get them from a luggage carousel after the trip.

"So?" he asked. "You want food or something?" Her eyes flew to his face, landing on his chin in order to avoid his gaze. Noticing her scarlet cheeks, Percy exhaled in a whistle. "Oh..." he said slowly, feeling his own skin heat uncomfortably. "Well, um, here..." He fished through his pocket. "Is a quarter good?" he asked.

"Fine," she murmured, blinking in embarrassment. "Thank you Percy," she whispered, staring dutifully at the floor. "I promise I'll pay you back."

"Twenty five cents?" he waved his hand, brushing the idea away. "Don't bother. ...Hey um, are you okay?" he asked, uncertain what you said to a girl in these circumstances. Both half bloods blushed with discomfort.

"Fine," she repeated. Without another word, she ran off again.

When she returned the second time, embarrassed but otherwise composed, they quickly ignited a lighthearted conversation. After a while, Percy asked her a question. "What do you do as a demigod, when you're all grown up?"

"What do you mean?" A laugh escaped her chapped lips, marveling at him. The way his green eye's searched her, wondering about it, it felt like he could really see her. See her thoughts, see her answers... see her very own questions. "You live a life," she replied awkwardly, staring up at the stupid Dipper again. "You - you do what everyone else does."

"So you don't keep fighting and going on Quests and stuff?" Percy asked.

"Not unless there's a war," Annabeth replied.

"A war?" Brow furrowed, he challenged her. She knew now, for all of his sarcasm and bravado, he cared more than he let on; he didn't understand the lifelong nature of this.

"Percy," Annabeth began, a tiny smile playing against her pale face, "You are a demigod. You're father is Poseidon, god of the Sea," and her expression went flat, wide and open with awe, "This isn't like a job... It's - it's... you fight to save the people in your life. You get that, don't you?"

He only stared back at her, until something caught his eye. "Look!" he shouted, and Annabeth winced as several people sat up in their seats. "The other Dipper!" he added, more quietly, still excited. "See, right there?" He grabbed her clammy hands, guiding them to their tiny area of view. Annabeth felt her stomach churn restlessly, caught of guard by the warmth... only the warmth, she assured herself. " "The big Dipper." He held onto her a little too tightly, and his nail trimmed against her skin.

"The first one was the big Dipper," she said, only a little exasperated. "That's the little Dipper."

"What? No it isn't," Percy insisted, frowning. "You only say that because you can't see the first one anymore. This is the big Dipper."

"No it's not," Annabeth replied. "We're moving in the wrong direction for that. It's the little Dipper."

"You didn't even see it," Percy said, suddenly petulant. "I saw it. And I say it's the big Dipper."

"Okay then," she said, holding up her hands. "Give Zeus yet another reason to hate you."

Percy's response fell unheard, as a purple tentacle laced it's way around the door handle.

A/N: I know this was sort of a slow one, but I thought you might appreciate the PercyAnnabeth interaction. The next one is sure to be less filler. Please, please review! If you at all like this story, please review. Thank you so much!


	20. The Purple People Eater

A/N: As I say on my profile, my current plan is to focus on updating this story, Could Have and Shuffle Off to Buffalo, until I get out of school and have a bit more time on my hands. Sound good? I can't promise "regular" updates exactly, but I'm going to do my best. Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter!

Besides a needling jab of panic in his spleen, Percy's instinctive response was to roll his eyes. Thrusting his hands out on either side of his face, he glared up at the purple slime creature. "What? Do I have a 'come and get me' sign or something? Huh? Does this demigod thing just tattoo 'I'm a son of Poseidon, so you should probably try and - "

"Percy," Annabeth grunted, whipping out her knife. "Not that time."

"Right, sorry," he said. They were standing on the train seats now, respective blades at the ready. The others were still asleep. "So um... what do we do?"

"I..." For once, Annabeth was at a loss. She and Percy stared at the Blob-Thing, sporting mirror images of disgust. Had it not been for the gelatin shine, the squish of carpet as it rolled into the room, this new monster might have passed for an octopus. As it was, the beast was simply too large to be cataloged as harmless. The sound of its tentacles rubbing together brought goosebumps to both half-bloods' arms, and Percy had to resist asking if Annabeth had ever heard the purple people eater song.

"We should probably wake the others up, right?" he asked.

She grimaced at the monster, who had just spit a mouthful of iridescent liquid onto the floor, and nodded. "That would probably be a good idea."

Percy inhaled a mouthful of air, grinning, and then tilted back his head to bellow. "MONSTER! MONSTER!"

"Percy!" Annabeth shrieked, when Percy's yell turned the monster right in their direction.

"Uh oh," he murmured, scrambling up onto the luggage rack. "Huh. You wouldn't think that the thing has ears, right?"

"Percy!"

"Right, sorry. Come on, up you go." He gripped the peachy skin of her wrists, hoisting her up beside him. By now Grover had awoken, and was screaming at the top of his lungs.

"ANNABETH, PERCY, where are you?" he shouted, looking wildly around.

"Hey man, up here." Grover's curls were lopsided, sweaty from his abrupt awakening.

"Oh," he said, relaxing. "Why were you screaming?"

Percy pointed towards the door, where the monster luxuriously bathed itself in the plush seats.

Balking - because he'd somehow missed the twelve-foot purple Blob-Thing until now - Grover's pallid face seemed to implode. "Holy shit! What are we going to do?"

At this Percy had to laugh, if only because Grover's face could sure knot itself up in amusing ways. "Just get up here, man. We're safer on higher ground."

This seemed to calm Grover down. "Oh... so you've had experience with these before?"

"Um, no," a faint flush splattered Percy's cheeks, and he shrugged, "but it makes sense."

The di Angelos were awake as well, Nico apparently torn between coiling under his sister's arm and trying to charge the thing.

"Percy!" Bianca shrieked, her voice hitting decibels that seemed unnatural for the human vocal cords. "Can I - can I throw you my brother?"

"HUH?" Nico asked, shaking her arm. "What?"

"Yeah," Percy said, just barely managing to keep Grover from falling off the grate. "What? I mean, Bianca... I'm just taking a guess about this. It _seems_ like we're better up here, but I really don't know that for sure."

"So take Nico!" she cried. "I have a knife, I can go after it. You keep him safe."

"Bianca, no," Nico whined. His dark eyes were wild, terrified, but not nearly as maniacal as his sister's.

Drinking in her tormented face, the anguish under her lashes, Percy finally nodded. "Okay. Um, toss him this way, I guess."

"Percy," Annabeth hissed, pinching the skin of his shoulder. "This is a really bad idea. She's not a fighter, I can tell. The thing is just going to eat her."

"Well, we don't have much of a choice, do we?" he fired back. The hair surrounding his face was split with perspiration, strands sticking haphazardly across his glowing cheeks. He looked a mess, yes, but with a dash of heroism thrown in there. Annabeth blushed, chasing away a stray thought or two; fervently, she reminded herself that Percy hadn't actually done anything yet.

Nico hurtled towards them then, distracting her. He was kicking violently, ejected under protest from his sister's arms. "No!" he shouted, punching the arm that Percy got around him. "No, no, lemme go! I have to help her!"

"Oh stop it, you little..." Percy bit back, handing him to Annabeth. "You take him, okay?"

She'd only managed to open her mouth in disagreement before the small Italian boy was thrust into her arms, suddenly still. Apparently he wouldn't hit a girl.

"I'm going to help her," Percy announced, beginning to lower himself from the rack.

"What?" Annabeth's gray eyes widened, full of inexplicable fear. All of a sudden, she was quite certain that she did not want anything to happen to Percy Jackson. "Why shouldn't I go?" She pushed Nico towards him again, and the small boy made a face. "We both have blades, Percy."

"Yeah, but mine is bigger," he said, jumping down to the seat. He paused a minute, grinned, and turned to look at her. "That's what she said."

And with that, Annabeth's slight respect vanished. "Oh, whatever Seaweed Brain. Go get yourself killed."

"Hey!" Grover interjected. "Annabeth, we should help!"

"I'm trying," she retorted. "He won't - " she unintentionally jammed Nico's head into the wall, and he slapped her arm.

"Stop pushing me!" Momentarily free, he moved to his knees so he could lean forward. "Bianca!" he screamed, veins appearing in the olive skin of his neck. "_Bianca_!" Half-sobbing, he began to beat the metal bars with his fist as her foot disappeared into the purple slime. "BIANCA!"

"Hold up, hold up," Percy said, fast as lightning. "I've got her." He swung Bianca over his shoulder, surprised at the levity of her.... developed... body; her foot slowly emerged from from the monster's flesh, a sight gruesome enough to make the bravest hero cringe. Singed and emitting a sour odor, she clenched her teeth the moment it was free.

"If I put you on my back," Percy panted, "can you hold on?" She nodded, barely able to speak through the pain of her foot. "Okay," he said, spinning her around. "Hold my neck."

He shot forward them, barely taking enough time for her to secure herself around him. As if someone had flicked a switch, suddenly every movement came naturally. Left, right. Duck as the monsters' tentacles spit at you, jump when it swerves. At first the sword only connected a few times - each with a satisfying, electric splat - but soon he was jabbing it left, right and center into the Blob-Thing's chest.

Finally, with an otherworldly groan enough to inspire retching, the blade hit far enough to bring the monster to the floor. First it puddled - purple and toxic on the train seats - and then finally it disappeared into light particles.

For a moment, the room was nearly silent. Bianca's hiss of pain was audible, mingling closely with Percy's attempts at catching his breath, but the others sat stunned.

"Bianca!" Nico wailed again, trying to get down from the seat.

But his sister only had wide-eyed, admiring eyes for her savior. "You... you saved my life," she said, hopping off his ragged t-shirt. "I... thank you so much. I owe you for as long as I live," she said, solemnly. A glare appeared on Annabeth's face, thickening when Percy smiled.

"Oh, it was nothing," he said kindly, turning to face her. "You don't owe me anything, Bianca." With a flush of confidence, so dark and sultry that it left patches of crimson on her face, Bianca leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Pulling back, she noticed Annabeth's look of fury, her brother's look of betrayal. Worst of all, Percy's expression was completely blank.

Swallowing tears, she lifted her contaminated foot off the ground and fled the room.

A/N: That's all for now! Ah, things are about to get more interesting. Hope you liked it! Please review!


	21. Two Teams

cA/N: I know, I absolutely suck. I'm so sorry it's been so long between updates. You all know my list of excuses though, so I shan't get into them again. I'll just say that I'm sorry, and I hope people still want to read this. :) Reviews would be lovely. Oh, and it's an AU. Nico is short. I can't remember if he was short in the books, but in this story, he is short.

Percy stayed stock still for a moment, his faze frozen in mid-kiss, and then bolted for the door. He halted halfway to it, as if changing his mind, then rushed through to the other side.

Annabeth groaned in frustration. "This is ridiculous," she spit, whirling round with extra energy. "Just... ugh! I can't believe them!"

"Well, Annabeth, Percy didn't do anything," Grover started, logically. "She kissed him and he - "

"He didn't have to run after her!" Annabeth fumed, stomping her foot. Grover's frown dropped, replaced by a sly little grin. He tipped sideways onto one of the maroon seats - one not covered in slime - and shook his head at her.

"You like him, Annabeth."

Annabeth's eyes widened in horror, though it was impossible to guess just how real the horror was. "What? Are you - you're - " She let out another angry noise, somewhere between a hissing snake and crunching candy wrapper. "That's insane, Grover! I'm just mad, because well, look, we have to clean this up." She pointed to the slimed carpet and seats, pretending to gag. "He has to help! And - and - " She rounded on Nico, who was hunched in the back seat with a grumpy expression. "What right did your sister have, kissing him like that? It was her fault, going after the monster like that! It should have been me, trying to fight it. She doesn't have any experience!" She stopped, her fuse fading as quickly as it had blown.

Nico's eyes were lit now though, bright coals of waiting fire, and Grover sighed despairingly. There would be no avoiding the fight now, of course. "_Hey. _My sister didn't do anything, okay? She could have been killed!" He looked briefly tormented, but quickly ground his teeth together in an attempt to dissolve the feeling. "We were having a tough enough time, anyway," he said, more quietly. "You didn't have to make us come with you, on this stupid sword fight party."

To prevent Annabeth's inevitable aneurysm – he could already see the vein rising in her neck – Grover came forward. He was not used to playing moderator, was not really confrontational enough for the job, but sometimes a Satyr's wise words were needed. Or so he told himself, anyway, as he put a hand on each their shoulders. "Nico, listen. It was our job to recruit you. You're not safe outside alone, roaming the streets… monsters could find you at any time. Trust me, you'll be happier at school." He started to protest, but Grover had already turned to Annabeth. "And Annabeth, seriously, lay off the kid. It's not his sister's fault, and it's definitely not his." He backed away, wondering which of them would try to hit him first, and from what angle. If he reacted fast, maybe he could block it… To his surprise, though, both of them were quiet. Thinking.

"Whatever," Annabeth sighed, after a second. "You're – you're probably right," she said stiffly, addressing Grover. He would take it; it was about as close to apologizing to Nico as she would ever get, anyway. "I just… don't you think it'll mess up the Quest if they start going out? Imagine – we're trying to run away from a monster, and Percy wants to stop for condoms at the drug store. I mean… gods, it's ridiculous!" Grover didn't miss the tight pinch between her eyes, but he let it pass and instead turned the question back on her.

"If Luke had been on this thing with you – like you wanted, let me remind you – would you be hunting for condoms in the middle of a chase?" He tried quickly to strike the image of their entwined bodies from his mind.

"No, but we're diff – "

"Hey, hold up a second," Nico said, glaring at the both of them. Annabeth blushed but didn't contradict – after all, she'd been about to admit that she and Luke had never done it. Not quite, anyhow. "Who said I'm going to let my sister start dating that bastard?" For such a small little guy, he had a colorful vocabulary.

"Let her?" Grover snorted. "Uh, Nico, I don't think – "

"Well, I don't exactly think they should be dating either. It's inappropriate," Annabeth said. Grover looked between them, feeling nervous. He couldn't explain it, but he felt as if something bad was about to happen.

Nico furrowed his overly bushy brows and then cocked one, catching on. "You mean we agree?"

She paused, folding her arms. "Guess so."

"Hmm…" Nico said, sitting back down. "Well. Maybe we should talk about this."

"Maybe so," Annabeth agreed, taking the spot across from him.

Grover put his head in his heads, feeling rather forlorn. "Oh, this is going to end so badly…" he muttered.

"Bianca, wait up!" Percy called. The train halls were only so big – where could she have gone?

"Watch your voice, young man! Some people are trying to sleep!" The old woman's cheeks drooped as she admonished him, full of angry old-woman phlegm.

"Sorry, uh, ma'am," Percy muttered. He did a double take, wondering why the Hades an eighty-five-year-old would be on a train alone this late, and then hurtled through the rest of the car. "Bianca!" he huffed. Where did girls go when they were trying to escape?

The thought came to him in a flash of brilliance: the bathroom. Girls always went to the bathroom, right? Thinking of the graffiti-smeared urinals they had at school, he had to wonder why. Or maybe girls' bathrooms were different than guys'. That's what they said, right?

He stopped to pant, his mind racing. There was something exhilarating about kissing after a near-death experience. Just the adrenaline alone… wow. And Bianca… he _had _been thinking about her that way, he admitted to himself.

"Hey, Bianca?" He lowered his voice to a reasonable decibel and pressed his ear against the bathroom door. "Can I come in?" He didn't entirely relish having this conversation, but it had to be done. It was like a band-aid… just rip the damn thing off, and the pain lasted for much less time.

The click of a lock sounded from the other side, and then the door slipped out of the frame. Bianca peered up from the sink, looking much worse for the wear. Her face was blotchy, her hair tangled, and her foot looked… dead. A victim of gangrene. Run over by one of those hummer cars. Percy had to grimace when he saw it, and Bianca's chin trembled again.

"I know, it's horrible looking, isn't it?" she asked, fresh tears spilling onto her cheeks. "I can't put any pressure on it."

"Well, here… let me take a look," Percy said, the kindness entirely unforced this time. He helped her roll back her pant leg and stared at the slimed flesh. Swallowing his disgust as best he could, he said the first thing that came to mind, "It looks… blister-y."

Bianca choked out a laugh, but it soon turned into a sob. "It hurts," she said quietly, pulling back her jeans. "It really hurts."

"Well… we have a first aid kit," Percy said, hopping up beside her on the makeshift countertop. He made a mental note that, if this was what a girl's bathroom looked like, girls were not so different from guys. Or maybe this was just your average train bathroom… "Maybe it includes stuff on how to treat injuries from monsters."

Bianca sniffed and smiled at him. "Maybe." They stared at each other for a second, and then Bianca shook her head and looked away. "I'm sorry, Percy," she said. "A-about the kiss. I didn't mean to…. I was just thanking you, I was so happy, and…" She shook her head. "I'm stupid."

"No!" Percy replied, perhaps a bit too energetically. "You're not stupid at all. Bianca… I…" He stopped, shaking his own head. "Never mind. Just… don't feel bad, okay? You _shouldn't_."

"No," she shifted closer to him, close enough so he could smell her very fragrant scent, "what were you going to say?"

"Just that…" he shrugged, trying to wipe the idiotic grin off his face, "I kind of think you're cool and stuff, okay?" She giggled, a hand shyly over her mouth, and he laughed. "Sorry, I don't usually tell girls my feelings like this. Except for Rachel. But she's my best friend, so it's not the same."

"Tell girls your feelings…" Bianca repeated, sounding slightly flirtatious. "So, when you say you think I'm cool, you mean… you like me? Like that?"

Percy grinned, his cheeks going red, and he found he had to remind himself that he was in college now. "Yeah, I guess that is what I'm saying."

She leaned forward, smiling all over. The rotting foot was forgotten. "Good, because, well… I kind of like you like that too."

They leaned forward in the same instant, following their first kiss with a quick second one, and then the alarm sounded.

A/N: Reviews would be awesome. Thanks so much for reading.


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